Pope Francis has made forceful denunciations of abortion. He has likened it to "hiring a hitman," and has condemned selective abortion of the disabled as "the same as the Nazis to maintain the purity of the race, but with white gloves."
In his 2013 apostolic exhortation Evangelii gaudium, Pope Francis wrote that "defence of unborn life is closely linked to the defence of each and every other human right."
Amid the 2020 campaign, pro-life Democrats have decried the party's "extreme" support of abortion in its 2020 platform. Biden has not responded to their call for a platform that would welcome pro-lifers to the party.
Biden has also said that he would repeal new religious exemptions to the contraceptive mandate, which had granted relief to Catholic organizations including the Little Sisters of the Poor. If the exemptions are repealed, the sisters could once again have to appear in court.
Also among the co-chairs of Catholics for Biden is Dr. Carolyn Woo, who from 2012 to 2016 was CEO of Catholic Relief Services, the U.S. bishops' conference international humanitarian aid organization.
While Biden has hoped to attract practicing Catholics to his campaign, his broad support for abortion protections and funding is likely to draw ire from the U.S. bishops, and deter some Catholics from supporting his candidacy.
The Trump campaign's Catholic voter outreach began with its online launch in April, which emphasized Trump's efforts to appoint federal judges who were not "activist," his administration's pro-life policies and measures to protect religious freedom, and his record on the economy and on the coronavirus pandemic-which has killed nearly 200,000 Americans.
Trump has been criticized by the U.S. bishops for his policies on immigration and refugee resettlement, housing, and the federal death penalty, which the administration reinstated after a 17-year hiatus on federal executions. But the president has mostly drawn praise from Church leaders for his efforts on abortion and religious liberty.
Trump targeted pro-life voters last week, sending a letter to pro-life leaders outlining his policy priorities for his second term. The letter contained some of the same promises he made to pro-life voters in 2016.
Trump's 2020 letter promises to build upon "our transformation of the federal judiciary" with judges who will "not legislate an abortion agenda from the bench."
He also promised to "overcome Democratic filibusters in Congress to pass and finally sign into law" a 20-week abortion ban. He pledged to sign legislation protecting infant abortion survivors and blocking all taxpayer funding of abortion providers, and promised to "fully defund the abortion industry" of taxpayer dollars.
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The president has also issued a list of candidates for judicial positions that could become vacant in his second term, and promised to dramatically expand the Mexico City Policy if he is reelected.