Hundreds of Congressmen Urge High Court to Rethink Roe

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WASHINGTON (ChurchMilitant.com) - Hundreds of members of Congress are weighing in on a Supreme Court abortion case, with many so-called "Catholics" defending the sin of abortion.

On Jan. 2, a total of 207 members of Congress, predominantly Republicans, filed a pro-life amicus curiae (friend-of-the-court) brief, asking the U.S. Supreme Court to reconsider 1973's Roe v. Wade decision, which broadly decriminalized abortion.

"Forty-six years after Roe was decided, it remains a radically unsettled precedent: two of the seven Justices who originally joined the minority subsequently repudiated it in whole or in part, and virtually every abortion decision since has been closely divided," the document declared.

An opposing brief in defense of abortion was signed by 197 members of Congress, mostly Democrats, including House Majority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), a self-identified Catholic.

The case that hundreds of Congressmen are weighing in on is June Medical Services, LLC v. Gee, which deals with a Louisiana state law requiring abortionists to have admitting privileges at a local hospital. The requirement could force two of Louisiana's three abortion mills to shut down for good.

A previous decision in the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the Louisiana law.

The Supreme Court struck down a similar law from Texas three years ago. But supporters argue that's no guarantee the Louisiana law will be overturned as well.

Judge Andrew Napolitano told Fox News in October that the current crop of justices may rule differently "because we have a change in the membership on the Supreme Court, and it is probably — I don't know this to be so, but probably — more pro-life."

Calls for the High Court to weigh in on Roe come as the 2020 presidential election draws near. In exit polls in 2016, 70% of U.S. voters said the Supreme Court's makeup was a major factor in their voting decision, with one in five calling it the deciding factor.

Dozens of "Catholic" Democrats in the House joined the call for the Supreme Court to defend abortion, including:

• Ruben Gallego (Ariz.)
• Mike Levin (Calif.)
• Juan Vargas (Calif.)
• Rosa DeLauro (Conn.)
• Anthony Brown (Md.)
• Joe Kennedy, III (Mass.)
• Kathleen Rice (N.Y.)
• Tim Ryan (Ohio)
• Peter DeFazio (Ore.)
• Mary Gay Scanlon (Penn.)
• Veronica Escobar (Texas)
• Debbie Dingell (Mich.)

When Michigan Congresswoman Debbie Dingell's husband, John (a former member of the House) passed away in February 2019, he received a Catholic funeral in the archdiocese of Detroit — despite his public support for abortion and contraception. Former vice president Joe Biden, himself a pro-abortion and pro-gay "Catholic," spoke at the funeral, delivering a lengthy eulogy at the end of Mass.

Among freshmen representatives, four "Catholics" supported the pro-abortion brief: Cindy Axne (D-Iowa), Matthew Cartwright (D-Penn.), Susie Lee (D-Nev.) and Sean Maloney (D-N.Y.).

From California alone, 18 self-identified Catholic representatives, all Democrats, put their names on the document supporting abortion.

Likewise, nine of the 22 "Catholics" in the Senate signed the pro-abortion brief, and all nine are Democrats:

• Ed Markey (Mass.)
• Bob Menendez (N.J.)
• Kirsten Gillibrand (N.Y.)
• Catherine Cortez Masto (Nev.)
• Tim Kaine (Va.)
• Patrick Leahy (Vt.)
• Patty Murray (Wash.)
• Maria Cantwell (Wash.)
• Dick Durbin (Ill.)

Bishop Thomas Paprocki of Springfield, Illinois has barred Sen. Durbin from receiving Communion in his diocese, due to the senator's pro-abortion voting record.

In 2017, Sen. Durbin helped Sen. Dianne Feinstein grill a judicial nominee for being a devout Catholic. In the confirmation hearing, Sen. Feinstein accused Amy Coney Barrett of being a religious zealot, saying, "When you read your speeches, um, the conclusion one draws is that the dogma lives loudly within you. And that's of concern, when you come to big issues that large numbers of people have fought for for years in this country."

Senator Durbin joined in, rebuking Barrett for using the phrase "orthodox Catholic" in her writings.

Despite Sen. Durbin's pro-abortion stance and his interrogation of Barrett, he appears to be on good terms with Cdl. Blase Cupich of Chicago.

Cardinal Cupich spoke to the senator in a staged phone-call in 2018 to drum up support for keeping an immigration policy on the books.

Previously, in 2015, Durbin and Cupich appeared together at an event on immigration reform.

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