Donald Trump has a message for Catholics: I will be there for you. I will stand with you. I will fight for you.
“I am, and will remain, pro-life.”
Catholics, however, have called on Trump to step down following his lewd comments about women in a leaked audio recording from 2005.
Despite this, Trump is continuing with his campaign to win the Catholic vote.
Trump – who is the presidential Republican candidate – promises to defend religious liberties.
He described these in the scope of the ongoing contraceptive mandate included in a court case (the Affordable Care Act and the U.S. Supreme Court case Zubik v. Burwell).
The case involves several plaintiffs, including the Little Sisters of the Poor.
Trump said he opposes abortion except for cases of rape, incest or where the mother’s life is at risk.
Democrat candidate, Hillary Clinton, says she supports “safe, legal abortion” as part of women’s access to critical health services.
She opposes government involvement in those decisions.
Trump says Clinton supports having the Little Sisters pay for contraceptives in their employees’ health plans.
If this becomes law, they and other religiously objecting employers could be fined if they don’t comply.
“That is a hostility to religious liberty you will never see in a Trump Administration,” he said.
In a May decision the Supreme Court sent Zubik case back to the appeals level in search of a final compromise.
The Supreme Court said petitioners’ legal objections satisfied the federal government’s requirement of providing notice of their religious objections.
As a result, the petitioners were not susceptible to fines or penalties.
Trump’s description of Clinton’s hostility extended to the issues and policies “of greatest concern to Catholics”.
He listed these as “life, religious liberty, Supreme Court nominations, affordable and quality healthcare, educational choice and home schooling.”
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