Decrying ‘evil’ of abortion, L.A. archbishop became public face of plan that could deny Biden Communion

BY MARISA GERBER
Los Angeles Times

AUG. 9, 2021

“Brothers,” Los Angeles Archbishop José H. Gómez addressed his colleagues,
“before we come to the end of our meeting, I have an announcement to make.”

It was the middle of November, two weeks after Joseph R. Biden Jr. was elected
president, marking only the second time that a Roman Catholic was headed to the
White House. And the U.S. Conference of Catholic bishops had gathered virtually
for a meeting amid a growing push by conservative bishops to withhold one of
Christianity’s holiest rites from the man about to occupy the Oval Office.

Continued: https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2021-08-09/how-la-archbishops-efforts-affect-biden-communion


USA – Abortion Fight Evolves, Overshadowed in 2020 but With Huge Stakes

Anti-abortion groups hope to keep Americans voting Republican despite anger at leaders’ handling of the coronavirus, race and the economy. Abortion-rights groups say the issues are all linked.

By Maggie Astor
Aug. 18, 2020

It would be difficult to overstate the significance of this year’s elections for the future of abortion in America. The results could eventually determine whether Roe v. Wade is overturned by the Supreme Court or codified by Congress.

Normally, stakes that high would make abortion a primary focus of the 2020 campaign. But normally, the country wouldn’t be experiencing a pandemic, a recession and a civil rights movement all at once. On Night 1 of the Democratic National Convention, the sum total of the attention abortion received was the second it took Kamala Harris to say “reproductive justice” in a video montage.

Continued: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/18/us/politics/abortion-2020-election.html


USA – Democrats Discuss Abortion Rights in Depth at Debate

Democrats Discuss Abortion Rights in Depth at Debate
The candidates had their most significant discussion about abortion in any debate yet, tackling an issue whose absence from previous debates has angered advocates.

By Stephanie Saul
Feb. 7, 2020

In their most substantive debate statements to date on abortion, several of the leading Democratic presidential candidates reaffirmed on Friday night that if elected, they would put forward only Supreme Court nominees who supported Roe v. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court decision establishing a woman’s right to abortion.

Historically, many presidential candidates have shied away from an outright litmus test on abortion or any other issue, arguing that Supreme Court justices should not be selected based on their political positions but on their experience and jurisprudence. But that has changed this campaign cycle.

Continued: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/07/us/politics/abortion-litmus-test-debate.html


On Abortion Rights, 2020 Democrats Move Past ‘Safe, Legal and Rare’

On Abortion Rights, 2020 Democrats Move Past ‘Safe, Legal and Rare’
The Democratic presidential candidates don’t want to simply defend abortion rights. They want to go on offense.

New York Times
By Maggie Astor
Nov. 25, 2019

The Democratic presidential field has coalesced around an abortion rights agenda more far-reaching than anything past nominees have proposed, according to a New York Times survey of the campaigns. The positions reflect a hugely consequential shift on one of the country’s most politically divisive issues.

Every candidate The Times surveyed supports codifying Roe v. Wade in federal law, allowing Medicaid coverage of abortion by repealing the Hyde Amendment, and removing funding restrictions for organizations that provide abortion referrals. Almost all of them say they would nominate only judges who support abortion rights, an explicit pledge Democrats have long avoided.

Continued: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/25/us/politics/abortion-laws-2020-democrats.html