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White House press secretary Jen Psaki is facing criticism after she seemed to target a male reporter's gender while defending President Biden's stance on abortion.
"By Jen Psaki’s arbitrary standard Joe Biden shouldn’t be commenting on abortion either as he’s never been pregnant," Students for Life president Kristan Hawkins told Fox News.
"Her sexism aside, it’s Joe Biden who uses his Catholicism as a talking point and as a woman who has been pregnant and a proud Catholic I would like the President to address how he can actively undermine the church’s teachings on the value of preborn life."
Penny Young-Nance, who leads Concerned Women for America, similarly said: "Jen Psaki excels at changing the subject anytime President Biden’s hypocrisy comes to light. Joe Biden’s pro-abortion conversion is complete and is in direct contradiction to his faith. He has taken the most radical position on abortion believing it should be legal at anytime, for any reason, any number, all paid for by the taxpayer."
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EWTN's Owen Jensen had asked Psaki who Biden thinks "should look out for the unborn child."
Psaki replied by saying Biden "believes it's up to a woman to make those decisions …. I know you've never faced those choices, nor have you ever been pregnant. But for women out there who have faced those choices, this is an incredibly difficult thing."
"I've been pregnant, @PressSec," Live Action's Lila Rose tweeted, "and it's *still* not my right, or anyone else's, to kill a baby. Being a woman or being pregnant does not give you license to kill. Women deserve better than abortion. The President's position is illogical, unscientific, immoral & 40 years wrong."
Former Planned Parenthood director Abby Johnson said Psaki’s answer was "such a silly response. It was all men who decided to legalize abortion across this country in 1973. They certainly respected a man’s decision then. The bottom line is that they simply don’t respect a man’s opinion who is prolife. But men should have a voice in whether or not their child is killed by abortion."
Psaki's comments follow a pattern of prominent women using gender to seemingly preclude men from discussion on abortion. For example, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., previously said she knew more about childbearing than the pope. She also told this male reporter, "I think I know more about this than you," citing her status as a mother when asked about abortion.
Yet, Hawkins, Rose and Nance are just a few of the many women leading the anti-abortion movement in the U.S. While modern feminists see abortion as key to bodily autonomy, many women consider the practice to be anathema to authentic feminism.
The debate came amid an uproar over the Supreme Court's decision to allow a restrictive Texas abortion law to remain in place. "Our liberty, our humanity, and our bodily autonomy are NOT up for debate," Rep. Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., tweeted after the decision.
The issue has been touchy with the administration as Biden has supported taxpayer funding of most abortions in addition to codifying Roe v. Wade.
By contrast, the section of the Catechism discussing abortion says that the procedure and infanticide "are abominable crimes."
It reads: "The inalienable rights of the person must be recognized and respected by civil society and the political authority." The Catechism also warns that "when the state does not place its power at the service of the rights of each citizen, and in particular of the more vulnerable, the very foundations of a state based on law are undermined."
The issue sometimes crosses party lines, too. Terrisa Bukovinac, who previously led Democrats for Life and sits on the board of Rehumanize International, told Fox News that abortion was a human rights issue.
"Joe Biden supporting a woman’s right to choose a brutal death for her unborn child isn’t just out of step with Catholicism, it’s out of step with human rights," she told Fox News. "Feminism demands equality for all and that must include the unborn."
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Yet, many left-leaning organizations have touted abortion as a fundamental human right or essential health care. Planned Parenthood previously tweeted Pressley's statement, which read, "Abortion rights are human rights. Abortion care is health care. Reproductive justice is economic justice. And reproductive justice is racial justice."
Psaki did not immediately respond to Fox News' request for comment.
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