October 25, 2024
Catholics voters keep collecting reasons to never vote for Vice President Kamala Harris. In a recent interview with NBC’s Hallie Jackson, Harris said “I don’t think we should be making concessions when we’re talking about a fundamental freedom to make decisions about your own body,” referring to abortion.
As reported by Fox News, the backlash to Harris’ comments was swift. “’Kamala Harris’ comments here show that she believes the First Amendment no longer applies to people of faith, including Catholics,” said Brian Burch, president of CatholicVote.
On X (formerly known as Twitter), Students for Life Action (SFLAction) President Kristan Hawkins said in a post “Her disdain for religion and her contempt for faith traditions like Catholicism is crystal clear. It’s baked into everything she does, and most glaringly obvious on abortion.”
There’s one major flaw with Harris’ opinion: the constitutional right to religious free expression.
According to Article VI, Section 3 of the US Constitution, “The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the Members of the several State Legislatures, and all executive and judicial Officers, both of the United States and of the several States, shall be bound by Oath or Affirmation, to support this Constitution; but no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States.”
And unlike all that, abortion is NOT in the Constitution.
But we cannot rest on that fact; we know that given the opportunity, a future Harris-Walz Administration would go after and target Catholic hospitals and Christian medical professionals for refusing to perform abortions on religious grounds.
While senator, Harris targeted the Knights of Columbus, according to reporting from Catholic News Agency, where she “repeatedly scrutinized judicial nominees for being members of the Knights of Columbus, a Catholic fraternal organization.”
We’ve also talked extensively about the weaponized government of the Biden-Harris administration targeting pro-life organizations and Catholic activists.
Just this week, in a widely shared viral clip, Harris told two young, pro-life Christian men they were “at the wrong rally.”
The courts are not on Harris’ side – at least for now.
In recent news coverage of a judicial ruling in North Dakota, the AP notes that, “a federal judge is allowing more than 8,000 Catholic employers nationwide to reject government regulations that protect workers seeking abortions and fertility care.
The regulations are meant to enforce the federal Pregnant Workers Fairness Act.”
READ: The Women’s Health Protection Act is Worse Than Many Realize
But contrast that with a lawsuit in California, where a Catholic Hospital is being sued on grounds of refusing to provide “an emergency abortion,” even though that hospital allegedly didn’t have the facilities to do it.
Yet, despite all these realities of the hostility and contempt that Harris has for Catholics and their religious rights, polls show that former President Donald Trump only leads Harris among Catholic voters by 5%.
What’s worse is that Christians could have a turnout issue in 2024. From an article we wrote just last week, “Evangelical pollster George Barna, the lead of a recent study by the Cultural Research Center at Arizona Christian University, found that 32 million Christian churchgoers aren’t voting in the 2024 election, which includes not only the presidency but many state races for the House and Senate as well as the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate. “
READ: With Abortion Extremism on the Line this Election, 32 Million Churchgoers Plan to Pass on Voting
Let’s hope that this latest assault on Catholic conscience rights will wake them up before election day.
