Joe Biden Reportedly Snubbed At Catholic Communion Over Abortion Rights Stance

A reverend at a South Carolina church allegedly refused to serve the former vice president Holy Communion.
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Former Vice President Joe Biden was reportedly denied Holy Communion over his stance on abortion rights during a Sunday morning visit to a South Carolina church.

Father Robert Morey of Saint Anthony Catholic Church in Florence told the local Morning News that during the 9 a.m. Mass, he refused to serve the Democratic presidential candidate because “any public figure who advocates for abortion places himself or herself outside of Church teaching.”

“I will keep Mr. Biden in my prayers,” he added.

Morey did not immediately responded to HuffPost’s request for comment and Biden’s campaign declined to comment. The presidential candidate declined to directly address the matter in an MSNBC interview.

“I’m not going to discuss that,” he said. “That’s just my personal life, and I’m not going to get into that at all.”

Biden, a practicing Catholic, emphasized that he does not seek to impose his “religious beliefs which I accept based on church doctrine” on others.

He has said that he personally opposes abortion, but he has evolved politically on the issue. In 1982, Biden voted for an amendment that would have allowed states to overturn Roe v. Wade, the landmark Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion nationwide. He has since reversed course, vowing to codify the ruling if elected and stating that “we must fight any and all attempts to overturn it.”

Similarly, Biden once backed the Hyde Amendment that prohibits federal funds from being spent on abortions but announced his support for scrapping it earlier this year.

“I can’t justify leaving millions of women without the health care they need,” he said at a June gala hosted by the Democratic National Committee. “If I believe health care is a right, as I do, I can no longer support [the amendment].”

This has been updated to reflect that Biden’s campaign declined to comment.

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