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| photo credit: Gage Skidmore / Flickr |
During a press conference, a reporter asked him how he planned to respond to the new Texas Heartbeat Act, which bans abortion after an unborn child's heartbeat is detectable. As part of his response, Biden told reporters that he did not believe life begins at conception.
“I respect people who don’t support Roe v. Wade, I respect their views,”
Biden said. “I respect those who believe life begins at the moment of conception and all — I respect that, don’t agree, but I respect that. I’m
not gonna impose that on people.”
It's a scientific fact that a unique human being with DNA that is different from both parents is formed during conception. The idea that life begins at conception is also a part of the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Biden
statement disputed these and his own past statements on whether life begins at
conception.
In a 2008 interview with the National Catholic Register, Biden said he was
“prepared as a matter of faith to accept that life begins at the moment of
conception.”
He also involved this belief in his vice presidential debate against Rep. Paul
Ryan. “Life begins at conception, that‘s the Church’s judgment. I accept it in
my personal life,”
Biden said. “But I refuse to impose it on equally devout Christians and Muslims and
Jews, and I just refuse to impose that on others, unlike my friend here, the
congressman.”
Biden reiterated this belief as recently as 2015 during an interview with
America Magazine. In that interview, he said, “I’m prepared to accept that at the moment
of conception there’s human life and being, but I’m not prepared to say that
to other God-fearing, non-God-fearing people that have a different view.”
