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THE BIDEN REPORT FOR CATHOLIC VOTERS
THE BIDEN REPORT
FOR CATHOLIC VOTERS
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PAID FOR BY CATHOLICVOTE.ORG. NOT COORDINATED WITH ANY CANDIDATE OR CANDIDATE’S COMMITTEE.
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
A Record of Appeasement, Surrender and Hostility
The winner of the Catholic vote has won every presidential election since 1976, with the exception of one. In 2016, Donald Trump defeated Hillary Clinton among Catholics 52-45. Today Joe Biden is running for president as a prominent U.S. Catholic with regular references to his faith and Catholic upbringing, citations of popes, and purported embrace of Catholic moral values.The following report is a comprehensive examination of Joe Biden’s 47-years in public life from a Catholic perspective. The report contains citations of interviews, speeches, videos, and media reports on 8 key policy areas of importance to Catholics.
LIFE
Joe Biden’s record on the sanctity of life, more than any other, most fully represents his transformation in public life, away from the core tenets of Catholic belief. Early in his Senate career, Biden was critical of
Roe v. Wade
saying it “went too far” and voting to allow states to set tougher abortion restrictions than the federal government. In the 2000’s, Biden began to shift to the left saying it was not one of the most important issues in the country. Today, as a presidential candidate, Biden says he would permanently codify
Roe v. Wade
into law. Biden was likewise a longtime supporter of the Hyde Amendment, bragging in 1994 that he had voted for it on “no fewer than 50 occasions.” In 2019, Biden fully surrendered his previous stance after facing only “two days of intense criticism.” Joe Biden now represents the most pro-abortion presidential nominee in American history.
JUDGES
In the 1990’s and early 2000’s, Biden argued ideology should not matter when evaluating judicial nominees, but as a presidential candidate, he says he would support a litmus test on abortion and has called for judges who will “respect
Roe v. Wade
as law.” When asked about judicial nominees, Biden’s campaign highlighted his support for the confirmation of liberal justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen Breyer, justices who have regularly voted against school choice and religious freedom, while he was a Senator.
DIGNITY OF WORK
Biden has long supported policies that have been devastating to the American worker including the North American Free Trade Agreement and permanent normal trade relations with China, which studies show caused an 18 percent drop in U.S. manufacturing employment. As a presidential candidate, Biden continues to support job-killing policies and said he is willing to sacrifice jobs for a “greener” economy. Biden has said he would end fracking though subsequently walked those comments back, saying he would only oppose new leases on federal
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
land. He has called for a nationwide ban on right-to-work policies and his tax proposal has been estimated to shrink the economy by 1.51 percent and cost 585,000 full-time equivalent jobs.
RELIGIOUS FREEDOM
In addition to the HHS Mandate, the Obama-Biden administration sought to prohibit faith-based foster care and adoption agencies from receiving federal funds. The administration also opposed the “ministerial exception” which allows religious institutions to make employment decisions consistent with their beliefs. The administration also opposed protections for religious institutions to qualify for federal contracts. Biden has supported permanent normal trade relations with China despite warnings about China’s poor record on religious freedom. In 2011, he said he understood China’s one child policy which includes forced-sterilization and abortion. As a presidential candidate, Biden has been critical of China’s internment of Uighur Muslims.
HEALTH CARE
The Obama-Biden administration’s signature achievement, ObamaCare, contained no specific language to block the law from being used to pay for abortions or abortion causing drugs. The administration eventually struck a deal to bar federal funding from being used for abortion but did not bar the use of taxpayer money at the state level.ObamaCare sought to require religious organizations to cover the cost of contraceptives, sterilization and abortion-inducing drugs, which are contrary to their religious beliefs. Biden objected to the mandate, but claimed during his 2012 vice presidential debate, it would not force Catholic health care providers to be a vehicle to “get contraception in any insurance policy they provide.” Both Hobby Lobby and the Little Sisters of the Poor were forced to take their cases to the Supreme Court to push back and Biden now calls for re-imposing the contraceptive mandate to its pre-
Hobby Lobby
ruling state.The Obama-Biden administration did not include a religious exemption in the rules requiring health care providers to treat gender dysphoria and left open the possibility the regulation could be used to force doctors and hospitals to perform abortions. After the Trump administration rescinded the rule, Biden said Trump must be defeated.
MARRIAGE
In 2007, Biden supported civil unions but not marriage for same-sex couples and said he thought the government could not dictate the definition of marriage to religious institutions. As vice president, Biden reversed himself, and expressed support for same-sex marriage and officiated a same-sex marriage at the vice president’s residence. As a presidential candidate, Biden said LGBT rights would be his number one legislative priority if elected.