White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki on Thursday shuts down a male reporter who questioned President Joe Biden’s support for abortion despite his Catholic faith.
“Why does the president support abortion when his own Catholic faith teaches abortion as morally wrong?” a reporter from EWTN, a Catholic network asked.
“He believes that it’s a woman’s right. It’s a woman’s body, and it’s her choice,” Psaki responded.
The reporter followed up with: “Who does he believe, then, should look out for the unborn child?”
“He believes that it’s up to a woman to make those decisions, and up to a woman to make those decisions with her doctor,” Psaki responded. “I know you’ve never faced those choices, nor have you ever been pregnant, but for women out there who have faced those choices, this is an incredibly difficult thing. The president believes that right should be respected.”
President Biden is a practicing Catholic who supports access to abortion, which the church condemns.
Earlier this year, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops advanced a controversial plan that would see politicians like Biden who support issues the church is against, be denied communion.
The renewed focus on a woman’s right to chose comes as the Supreme Court denied an effort by abortion rights group in Texas to block a restrictive anti-abortion bill from taking effect.
The bill bans all abortion after six weeks of pregnancy and empowers private citizens to sue Texas-based abortion clinics, doctors, and anyone who aids in an abortion. If successful, the petitioner, who does not have to reside in Texas, will receive a $10,000 award and the cost for attorney’s fees.
Biden slammed the law in a statement on Thursday and said he will be directing his Gender Policy Council and the White House legal team to tap federal agencies to ensure women maintain their constitutional right to an abortion.
“I am directing that Council and the Office of the White House Counsel to launch a whole-of-government effort to respond to this decision, looking specifically to the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Justice to see what steps the Federal Government can take to ensure that women in Texas have access to safe and legal abortions as protected by Roe, and what legal tools we have to insulate women and providers from the impact of Texas’ bizarre scheme of outsourced enforcement to private parties,” Biden said in a statement.
