Democratic congresswoman slammed for claiming Catholics are compelled by their faith to support abortion

Democratic Rep. Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut recently attempted to sully the reputation of the late Pope John Paul II and suggest that support among Democrats for the extermination of the unborn was aligned with the moral teachings of the Catholic Church.

The purple-haired congresswoman was subsequently slammed online and confronted with the facts of the Catholic Church's actual teachings about the bloody practice.

In a June 26 statement, DeLauro wrote, "I am a Catholic—baptized, raised, and confirmed. The fundamental tenets of my faith compel me to defend a women’s right to access abortion. I am proudly part of the faithful large majority of US Catholics who support legal protections for abortion access."

This tweet, insinuating majority opinion somehow matters where Catholic teaching is concerned, referenced a much longer statement of principles issued Saturday.

The longer statement, an updated version of a similar pro-abortion credo penned in June 2021, purportedly reflects the thinking of DeLauro and 30 other self-identifying Catholic Democrats in Congress as it pertains to "their support for a woman’s right to choose."

After condemning the Dobbs ruling, which overturned Roe v. Wade, and woefully noting that "five Justices who are or were raised Catholic" played a role in that victory for life, DeLauro indicated that she and the other Democratic representatives claiming Catholicity are "proud" to support legal protections for abortion.

Despite highlighting her support for the legal culling of the unborn, DeLauro maintained that her faith "unfailingly promotes the common good, prioritizes the dignity of every human being, and highlights the need to provide a collective safety net to our most vulnerable."

DeLauro proceeded to quote from "The Catechism of the Catholic Church," an official document that summarizes the main beliefs of the Catholic Church, to make the point that "a human being must always obey the certain judgment of his [or her] conscience," adding that she and the other Democratic representatives claiming Catholicity "regard conscience as both a sacred gift and a responsibility."

DeLauro evidently neglected the various explicit condemnations of abortion in the Catechism, along with its procurement, its provision, and its support. In fact, the document expressly states that those who formally cooperate in an abortion are excommunicated and thereby cut off of from the church.

With scriptural and theological reasons and corroborates also provided, the Catechism states the following :

• "Human life must be respected and protected absolutely from the moment of conception" (2270);
• "Since the first century the Church has affirmed the moral evil of every procured abortion. This teaching has not changed and remains unchangeable. Direct abortion, that is to say, abortion willed either as an end or a means, is gravely contrary to the moral law" (2271);
• "Formal cooperation in an abortion constitutes a grave offense. The Church attaches the canonical penalty of excommunication to this crime against human life" (2272);
• "The inalienable rights of the person must be recognized and respected by civil society and political authority. These human rights depend neither on single individuals nor on parents; nor do they represent a concession made by society and the state; they belong to human nature and are inherent in the person by virtue of the creative act from which the person took his origin" (2273); and
• "Since it must be treated from conception as a person, the embryo must be defended in its integrity, cared for, and healed, as far as possible, like any other human being" (2274).

After cherry-picking a rationale for her stance from a document that otherwise stresses the evil of abortion, DeLauro invoked Pope John Paul II, who stressed to Catholics the need for the church to "be a moral force in the broadest sense."

Pope John Paul II was one of the most vociferous opponents of abortion in the 20th Century.

In his papal encyclical "Evangelium Vitae," he reiterated the Second Vatican Council's condemnation of abortion, writing, "taking up the words of the Council and with the same forcefulness I repeat that condemnation in the name of the whole Church, certain that I am interpreting the genuine sentiment of every upright conscience: 'Whatever is opposed to life itself, such as any type of murder, genocide, abortion, euthanasia, or wilful self-destruction, whatever violates the integrity of the human person.'"

With the understanding that abortion was both a product and a sign of a "culture of death," Pope John Paul II noted, "To claim the right to abortion, infanticide and euthanasia, and to recognize that right in law, means to attribute to human freedom a perverse and evil significance: that of an absolute power over others and against others. This is the death of true freedom: 'Truly, truly, I say to you, every one who commits sin is a slave to sin' (Jn 8:34)."

Pope Francis has maintained his predecessors' abhorrence for abortion and has even opined on Democratic Catholics' complicity in its advancement, calling President Joe Biden's support for abortion "incoherent."

CBS News reported that Biden, simultaneously an abortion advocate and a self-described Catholic, recently told a crowd in Maryland, "I'm not big on abortion ... but guess what? Roe V. Wade got it right."

The head of the church to which Biden claims membership has underscored that it is wrong to take a human life, regardless of what age or stage of development it is in, stating, "Getting rid of a human being is like resorting to a contract killer to solve a problem."

Like Biden's past remarks on the matter, DeLauro's statement didn't skate pass conservative Catholics unnoticed.

Conservative commentator Liz Wheeler responded to DeLauro's tweet, writing, "The Catholic Church declares abortion a grave moral evil, a mortal sin, rejecting Christ in the baby killed. You can’t be a Catholic in good standing & support abortion. By supporting abortion, you are rejecting Catholicism & Christ. I encourage—& pray—you will go to confession."

Mark Hemingway, senior writer at RealClearInvestigations, tweeted, "I don’t have any idea what 'fundamental' is supposed to mean here, but the literal tenets of her faith say abortion is a serious sin."

Historian and former White House speechwriter Joshua Charles wrote, "You know who was also a Catholic—baptized, raised, and confirmed? Adolf Hitler. But he utterly repudiated the Faith, and became an apostate in both word and deed. Like you. You don’t get to determine what the Catholic Faith is. Jesus Christ does, through the Church. Repent."

Daily Signal reporter Mary Margaret Olohan stressed, "This is complete BS. Catholicism declares abortion a grave moral evil."

Fr. Ryan Hilderbrand of St. Matthew's Parish in Mt. Vernon, Indiana, tweeted, "Just as she has her areas of competence (in which mine is a voice of ignorance, not expertise), so too my area of competence is the fundamental tenets of the Catholic Faith. The Faith compels one to prevent murder, not facilitate it."

Dr. Thomas Carr, a theologian at the Dominican House of Prayer, highlighted the findings from a 2022 Pew Research Center survey, which found that 70% of American Catholics who attend Mass weekly or more often recognize that "human life begins at conception, so a fetus is a person with rights."

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