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<p>Harris has consistently promoted abortion, scrutinized Catholic judicial nominees, and opposed pro-life pregnancy centers and activists. She has also embraced gender ideology as well as transgender and contraception mandates that have, at times, jeopardized religious freedom.</p>
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<p>With President Joe Biden <a href="https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/258345/joe-biden-announces-he-will-not-seek-reelection-in-2024-presidential-race" target="_blank" rel="noopener">bowing out</a> of the 2024 presidential race following intense pressure from within his own party, Vice President Kamala Harris is the likely Democratic nominee to face former president Donald Trump in November’s general election.</p>
<p>Harris was raised by a Christian father and a Hindu mother and attended both Hindu and Christian services as a child. As an adult, Harris was a member of a Black Baptist church. Her husband, Douglas Emhoff, is Jewish and attended a Reform synagogue growing up.</p>
<p>Throughout her career — as vice president, senator and attorney general of California — Harris has taken a variety of stances that could pose problems for Catholic voters, a key voting bloc. </p>
<p>Harris has consistently promoted abortion, scrutinized Catholic judicial nominees, and opposed pro-life pregnancy centers and activists. She has also embraced gender ideology as well as transgender and contraception mandates that have, at times, jeopardized religious freedom.</p>
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<h3><b>Leading Biden Administration’s Pro-Abortion Efforts</b></h3>
<p>As vice president, Harris has taken the lead on many of the Biden-Harris administration’s efforts to promote abortion, including the effort to codify <i>Roe v. Wade</i>’s abortion standards into federal law.</p>
<p>In September of last year, the vice president embarked on a tour, stopping at various college campuses, called the<a href="https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/255430/kamala-harris-promotes-abortion-access-on-nationwide-college-tour" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> “Fight for Our Freedoms College Tour”</a> to promote abortion and other aspects of the administration’s agenda. </p>
<p>At the beginning of 2024, she launched <a href="https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/256610/vice-president-harris-stumps-for-abortion" target="_blank" rel="noopener">another speaking tour</a> to promote abortion called “Fight for Reproductive Freedoms.” During this tour, Harris became the first sitting vice president <a href="https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/257096/kamala-harris-becomes-first-vice-president-to-visit-abortion-clinic" target="_blank" rel="noopener">to visit an abortion facility, </a>in March, when she toured a Planned Parenthood in Minneapolis. At the event, she praised abortionists and chastised pro-life lawmakers who voted to put limits on abortion.</p>
<p>In <a href="https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/254953/vice-president-harris-blasts-states-for-enacting-abortion-bans" target="_blank" rel="noopener">an interview with ABC</a> in 2023, Harris criticized states that adopted pro-life laws and urged Congress to pass legislation that would establish federal abortion standards that prevent states from enforcing pro-life laws. In 2022, <a href="https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/251828/vp-kamala-harris-religious-faith-abortion-support" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the vice president claimed</a> that religious Americans can support abortion without abandoning their faith.</p>
<p>As a senator, Harris <a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/senate-bill/510" target="_blank" rel="noopener">co-sponsored legislation</a> that would have prevented states from passing abortion restrictions, and she <a href="https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/43674/senate-fails-to-pass-two-pro-life-bills-on-same-day" target="_blank" rel="noopener">voted against a bill</a> that would have required doctors to provide medical care to a child who is born after a failed abortion attempt.</p>
<h3><b>Scrutinizing Judicial Nominees’ Knights of Columbus Memberships</b></h3>
<p>As a senator, Harris pressed three judicial nominees about their affiliations with the Knights of Columbus: Brian Buescher, Paul Matey and Peter Phipps. Her questions suggested that the nominees’ ties to the Catholic fraternal organization could make them biased because the group adheres to Church teachings about life and marriage. </p>
<p>In <a href="https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/Buescher%20Responses%20to%20QFRs.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">written questions</a> to Buescher, for example, Harris asked the nominee whether he knew “that the Knights of Columbus opposed a woman’s right to choose when [he] joined the organization.” She questioned whether he agreed with then-Supreme Knight Carl Anderson that abortion is “the killing of the innocent on a massive scale.” She asked him whether he knew “that the Knights of Columbus opposed marriage equality when [he] joined the organization.”</p>
<p>Buescher, responding to Harris, informed her that “the Knights of Columbus is a Roman Catholic service organization with approximately 2 million members worldwide.” </p>
<p>“The organization has a religious and charitable purpose,” he continued. “I joined the Knights of Columbus when I was 18 years old and have been a member ever since. My membership has involved participation in charitable and community events in local Catholic parishes.”</p>
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<h3><b>Raiding Pro-Life Activist’s Home</b></h3>
<p>In 2016, as California attorney general, Harris’ office <a href="https://www.ncregister.com/news/critics-decry-politically-motivated-raid-on-pro-life-activist-s-house" target="_blank" rel="noopener">launched a raid</a> on pro-life activist David Daleiden’s home.</p>
<p>The raid was in response to Daleiden’s undercover investigation of Planned Parenthood, which showed organization officials <a href="https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/37355/doj-investigates-planned-parenthood-for-fetal-tissue-sales" target="_blank" rel="noopener">discussing costs</a> for fetal tissue and body parts. It is illegal to sell fetal tissue and body parts.</p>
<p>Harris claimed that Daleiden broke several laws when obtaining videos of Planned Parenthood officials. He was charged with 15 felonies related to allegations of falsification of identity and invasion of privacy. He pleaded guilty, but the case is still ongoing. </p>
<p>As attorney general, she never launched an investigation into the allegations against Planned Parenthood. She received thousands of dollars in campaign funds from Planned Parenthood.</p>
<h3><b>Regulating the Speech of Pro-Life Pregnancy Centers</b></h3>
<p>As California’s attorney general, Harris <a href="https://oag.ca.gov/news/press-releases/attorney-general-kamala-d-harris-issues-statement-governor-brown-signing" target="_blank" rel="noopener">co-sponsored</a> and promoted <a href="https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/45785/as-california-ag-harris-sponsored-law-targeting-pro-life-pregnancy-centers" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the Reproductive FACT Act</a>, which required pro-life pregnancy centers to post notices that provided information on where to obtain abortions.</p>
<p>Pro-life pregnancy centers sued the attorney general’s office, arguing that the law violated their First Amendment rights. In 2018, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the law <a href="https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/38732/supreme-court-sides-with-pro-life-pregnancy-centers-in-california-abortion-case" target="_blank" rel="noopener">violated the right to free speech</a> because it compelled speech. </p>
<p>The legislation served as a model for lawmakers in other states, such as <a href="https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/254960/pro-life-pregnancy-centers-sue-vermont-over-law-targeting-their-advertisements" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Vermont</a> and <a href="https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/256256/illinois-agrees-to-halt-speech-restrictions-on-pro-life-pregnancy-centers-amid-lawsuit" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Illinois</a>, who tried to regulate the speech of pro-life pregnancy centers. </p>
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<h3><b>Opposing Religious Liberty, Embracing Gender Ideology</b></h3>
<p>Throughout her career, Harris has been against strong protections for religious freedom and has supported gender ideology.</p>
<p>In 2014, Harris was <a href="https://oag.ca.gov/news/press-releases/attorney-general-kamala-d-harris-issues-statement-us-supreme-court-ruling" target="_blank" rel="noopener">one of 14 state attorneys general</a> to file an amicus brief with the Supreme Court that asked the court to force Hobby Lobby to cover contraception — which included potentially abortifacient drugs — in its health-insurance policies despite the ownership’s religious opposition. </p>
<p>As a senator, Harris went further, co-sponsoring the <a href="https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/41643/religious-freedom-laws-more-necessary-than-ever-congress-hears" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Do No Harm Act</a> and the <a href="https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/247018/what-the-equality-act-could-mean-for-catholics" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Equality Act</a>. The former would have ended religious exemptions for certain government mandates, such as laws that prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity and rules that force insurance coverage of abortion and sex-change surgeries. The latter would have prohibited discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. </p>
<p>As vice president, Harris has further promoted gender ideology. She has criticized Republican states for prohibiting doctors from performing sex-change surgeries on minors, restricting female sports to only biological women and girls, and preventing teachers from pushing gender ideology onto students. </p>
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<br /><a href="https://www.ncregister.com/cna/kamala-harris-record-on-catholic-issues">Source link </a></p>
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What You Need to Know| National Catholic Register
