EDITORIAL: Which persona will Biden adopt when his budget is addressed by Congress?
The Editors Editorial June 12, 2021
Now that President Joe Biden has submitted his 2022 budget to Congress without the inclusion of Hyde Amendment language that sharply restricts federal taxpayers’ funding of abortion, his pro-abortion presidential credentials are established beyond any dispute.
This means that all Catholics are left to hope for, in terms of any faint residual fidelity to Church teachings on abortion Biden may have, is the possibility that he might avoid pressuring the trio of Catholic Democratic U.S. senators who still support the amendment to endorse his own egregious failure to respect religious freedom and pro-life Americans.
If Biden does back away from the issue and doesn’t twist the arms of Sens. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, Tim Kaine of Virginia and Bob Casey of Pennsylvania, the Hyde Amendment language will likely be reinstated when the federal budget passes through the Senate, as noted in our article about this matter.
To put matters more colorfully, is there any chance that Biden might revert partway back to his earlier, more principled “Senator Jekyll” position of supporting this congressional amendment that protects pro-life Americans from being forced to participate in the funding of abortion? Or has he permanently transformed into “President Hyde,” with a political persona that is unalterably committed to unqualified support for the profound evil of legal abortion?
During his 36 years of service as a U.S. senator, Biden was never anything near a pro-life stalwart. Indeed, like the Democratic Party as a whole, over the course of his long political career, Biden has become steadily more accommodating of pro-abortion extremism, despite continuing claims that he remains “personally opposed” to abortion. But he did at least retain his stated support for the Hyde Amendment until he left the Senate in 2008, in keeping with a pledge in a 1994 letter to constituents that “I will continue to abide by the same principle that has guided me through my 21 years in the Senate: Those of us who are opposed to abortion should not be compelled to pay for them.” In fact, he maintained this position afterward throughout his eight years as vice president during Barack Obama’s presidency.
Unfortunately for the lives of unborn babies, Biden’s long-standing commitment to the principle that those who oppose abortion shouldn’t be forced to fund the life-destroying procedure was discarded — without any apparent regret — on the presidential campaign trail in June 2019, as soon as it became evident that a refusal to jettison his support for the amendment could cost him the Democratic nomination.
Rather than explain how this flagrantly hypocritical flip-flop could be squared with his alleged belief that “abortion is always wrong,” he resorted instead to the abortion lobby’s cynical talking point that restrictions on tax-funded abortions discriminate against economically disadvantaged minority women. It’s cynical because these are the very women who are already disproportionately targeted by Planned Parenthood and other abortion providers. The rate of abortion for African American women, for example, is four times higher than for white women, according to Centers for Disease Control data. Biden also cannot justify his abandonment of principle on the grounds that the Hyde Amendment has made little difference in terms of the incidence of abortions. According to an analysis by the pro-life Charlotte Lozier Institute, the amendment saves the lives of more than 60,000 unborn babies each year, and its effectiveness in reducing abortions has been confirmed by more than 20 peer-reviewed academic studies. Abortion activists don’t dispute the validity of such assessments either; a 2009 study by the pro-abortion Guttmacher Institute found that it reduces the number of abortions among Medicaid recipients by 25%.
The intensity of the current attacks on the Hyde Amendment by the abortion lobby is further evidence of its effectiveness: If it didn’t reduce abortions, thereby reducing the abortion industry’s cash flow alongside of saving unborn babies’ lives, abortion activists would have no reason to oppose retention of the amendment so vociferously.
Another point to bear in mind is that the current Catholic occupant of the Oval Office is the first president since 1993 to deliver a proposed budget to Congress that didn’t include Hyde Amendment language. Despite being almost totally aligned with pro-abortion advocacy throughout his time in office, even President Obama never tried to do the same — despite the fact that, unlike Biden, Obama was not constrained by claims that he was “personally opposed” to abortion on the grounds of his religious faith.
Of course, it has now become obvious that Biden does not intend to allow his Catholic faith to inhibit him from directing his administration to promote abortion and other agendas that contradict Catholic beliefs; at the start of June, the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights released a list documenting 32 actions since January that have significantly departed from Church teachings. In light of all of this, what reasons are there to think Biden might not aggressively push in the Senate for the eradication of the Hyde Amendment and that he might instead be content to see it survive?
Such hopes rest partly on the fact that he has avoided using the word “abortion” since his election, suggesting some hesitation on his part about seeming to be personally too wholeheartedly aboard the abortion-rights bandwagon. There’s also the fact that he has so much personal experience of how the Senate operates and might be disinclined because of that experience from trying to strong-arm Manchin, Kaine and Casey into closer alignment with the Democratic Party’s pro-abortion orthodoxy. And maybe he has even been paying a little bit of attention to the multitude of comments by prominent Church leaders in the U.S. calling him to account over his continued reception of Communion despite his frequent political breaches of fundamental Catholic moral teachings.
Admittedly, this doesn’t provide a lot of hope for a covert reemergence of Biden’s former “Senator Jekyll” persona, with respect to acknowledging the principle that Americans who oppose abortions “should not be compelled to pay for them,” as he said himself back in 1994. Still, any hope is better than none, given that “President Hyde” has abandoned any pretense for balance when it comes to protecting the unborn, the most vulnerable among us. Let us pray for the president and continue to press him with the truth.
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Sort byA popover with more user informationWe are in dark times.
We have a President who only cares about appeasing the woke.
We have a pope who will not use his authority appropriately.
God help us.
A dialog showing a permalink to the commentA popover with more user informationThe G-7 leaders have just agreed to push abortion world wide and to isolate those countries that would go against this. At least 4 of the leaders profess to be practicing Catholics. Francis has said abortion is really a bad thing. But when does he ever back up his words with actions. The early church excommunicated those who were apostates and refused to die for the church. Vatican II was a call to return to the origins of the Church. Yet we only seem to want to return to the origins when it doesn’t cost us anything. When is Francis going to act? Pius XII acted to save Jews. He ordered the church to go into action to save the lives of Jews who were in dire circumstances. I don’t think Pius would have permitted Catholic Leaders to continue to claim to be Catholic, and go to communion while helping the Germans exterminate Jews. Why does Francis and Cardinal Cupich, and Cardinal Tobin, and Cardinal Gregory think Catholic Politicians can support these modern extermination camps of abortion and continue to call themselves Catholic. This lacks all consistency and credibility. Don’t tell me your against Racism and then look the other way on abortion. A dialog showing a permalink to the commentA popover with more user informationOnly lightly mentioned here but , although carefully hidden from the camera, Biden always uses a teleprompter with words written by the man behind the curtain. This is easily seen when he stumbles over word with similar spellings and chooses the wrong one. I should imagine Dr. Jill re-reads the history of Edith Wilson regularly in order to be prepared.A dialog showing a permalink to the commentA popover with more user informationreply In reply to Donald LinkMr Biden clearly has experienced a decline in health but I think that assumption was exaggerated during the election. Time will tell.
I’d rather have Mrs.Wilson in charge any day.
:)A dialog showing a permalink to the commentA popover with more user informationThis is a Republic, where Biden was freely elected into office by the free will of the votes from citizens who could vote for anyone. The people voted Biden and his immoral people into offices, judgships, etc.
Biden is not a king nor a dictator. Neither was trump. They are a person who the people selected after knowing what their policies were beforehand.
The people allowed this to take place. Maybe not those here on this board specifically or directly, but we who are followers of Christ and the Church must make some difficult choices on what to do about this. Because doing nothing is not going to fix this. A dialog showing a permalink to the commentA popover with more user information(Edited)reply In reply to DpeatThe difference is that DJT was making the decisions. People knew that.
With Biden, his handlers are making the decisions and telling him both how and when to breathe.
Proof? Just a few weeks ago he said:
« I can’t say too much or I am going to get into trouble. »
A dialog showing a permalink to the commentA popover with more user informationreply In reply to CantorHi, Cantor. I agree with you, and I know you’ll agree that even so, it doesn’t stop the stench of the resulting increase in abortions and desecration of the Eucharist.A dialog showing a permalink to the commentA popover with more user informationreply In reply to BernieAgree Bernie. I only wish our Church Leaders would find their spine and be more forceful and speak with a unified voice concerning abortion and the Eucharist.A dialog showing a permalink to the commentA popover with more user informationreply In reply to CantorBiden ran his “campaign” from his bunker. We all knew he would not “lead”. We all knew it would be the people behind the curtain. Biden is a fraud and a liar and a killer. Trump made that clear, but even without him it was known through that communication device called the internet. It was clear. Apparently, the “majority” voted for him anyway.
We have a major issue either way. Either Biden was not elected by the majority of the people, but election fraud got him into office. Or the American people knew Biden had early dementia, hid answers through fraud or misrepresentation, hid in his basement, and knew the left minions would run the Oval Office and voted for him anyway.
To defeat abortion, and the other evils we see, the American people must be convinced it is evil. If that is possible since most have lost their conscience. Then biden, Pelosi, and all the rest will not be elected. Maybe then we can have a country worth dying for again.
I blame the bishops and church leaders for the last sixty years. and the fr carls or PF. And laziness of the lay has allowed this to multiply. This mess should never happen. I think Fixing this will be very costly. In lives and souls.
A dialog showing a permalink to the commentA popover with more user informationreply In reply to Dpeat[« Apparently, the “majority” voted for him anyway. »]
Certainly the majority of « Catholic » voters.The same majority of Catholic voters who did the same for Obama/Biden. Twice.
A dialog showing a permalink to the commentA popover with more user informationreply In reply to DpeatI agree with the points you make. The media and big tech actually did all Biden’s campaigning for him. A dialog showing a permalink to the commentA popover with more user informationreply In reply to CantorWhat network did you get this from?A dialog showing a permalink to the commentA popover with more user informationreply In reply to Will_KAll the majors carried that « live » during coverage by ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, CNN and PBS. Those networks. Sorry if you missed it.
A dialog showing a permalink to the commentA popover with more user informationI don’t care one darn iota what Biden says he “personally believes” about abortion. If it’s even true, it makes him a total hypocrite in leadership and a total coward in his lack of integrity. He’s leading the charge to INCREASE abortions when no law requires it.
He ran on a platform to unnecessarily expand abortions and he did it to get the Democratic nomination. Full, unqualified period. He has Cardinal Gregory’s public blessing to receive Holy Communion. In the cardinal’s eyes, and apparently in Biden’s, either: 1) abortion is NOT taking human life, or, 2) no Catholic should sweat the routine desecration of the Real Presence because it’s no big deal.
I’m not that great of a human being, but I love and adore Jesus in the Eucharist, and I pray if it ever came to it, I would have the grace to be martyred for my belief. It sickens me to see Jesus spit upon by the likes of Biden and Gregory.A dialog showing a permalink to the commentA popover with more user informationLet’s face it! From the viewpoint of an unborn child, the only viewpoint that really matters, BIden has ALWAYS BEEN A HYDE!
naufrage/sauvetage 