Democrats tee up ‘Catholics for Harris-Walz’ coalition
Vice President Kamala Harris arrives at Planned Parenthood in St. Paul, Minnesota, Thursday, March 14, 2024, and greets Dr. Sarah Taxler, chief medical officer of Planned Parenthood North Central States. Standing with the vice president is Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz. / Credit: The White House, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Sep 17, 2024 / 18:15 pm (CNA).
A virtual campaign event designed to organize Catholic support for Vice President Kamala Harris’ 2024 presidential candidacy is set to take place on the evening of Wednesday, Sept. 18.
The “Catholics for Harris-Walz National Organizing Call,” which is open to the public, will be held Wednesday evening from 8 p.m. until 9 p.m. The campaign originally planned to hold the event prior to last month’s Democratic National Convention, but it was abruptly canceled. Organizers at the time cited a scheduling conflict as the reason for its cancellation.
“The call will be an opportunity to hear directly from the campaign about our vision, next steps, and how you can get involved and take part in this historic moment,” the event’s description reads. “We will be joined by special guests and community leaders to discuss the deciding role the Catholic vote will play in the upcoming election.”
A coalition of advocacy groups, including Catholics Vote Common Good, is organizing the call in tandem with the campaign. The group is part of the broader Vote Common Good nonprofit, which mobilizes various faith groups in support of progressive candidates.
Catholics Vote Common Good has already been organizing weekly phone banking on behalf of Harris’ presidential campaign.
The nonprofit, along with Catholic Democrats, has also relaunched the “Catholics4Kamala” website, which briefly went offline after the original event was canceled. The website does not directly address Harris’ strong support for abortion but instead states that “even on the life issue, there is an eerie silence among conservatives about the rise in abortion numbers nationally since the Dobbs decision reversing Roe v. Wade” on its “about” page.
Harris supports codifying the abortion standards set in Roe v. Wade, which would prevent states from passing laws that protect unborn life prior to fetal viability. In the Sept. 12 debate with former president Donald Trump, Harris refused to say whether she supports late-term abortion in the seventh, eighth, and ninth months of pregnancy.
More than 9,000 late-term abortions are performed in the United States annually after the 21st week of pregnancy.
The website states that a Harris presidency “looks forward to the promise of an America that embraces and celebrates our diversity among people of many races, beliefs, and genders — an America that is caring and uplifting for all, seeks to provide the opportunity for everyone to achieve their God-given potential, and brings joy back to our politics.”
“Catholics are coming together to support the Harris-Walz ticket because of the threat that a second Trump presidency poses to reverse the progress against global warming, to explode the deficit with more tax cuts, to transform the Justice Department into an instrument for vindictiveness, to abandon Ukraine in its fight for sovereignty, and to hamstring our economy through a massive race-centered deportation operation,” the website adds.
Harris has advocated other positions that are contrary to Catholic teaching, such as gender ideology. As a senator, Harris also pointedly scrutinized judicial nominees for their membership in the Knights of Columbus, a Catholic fraternal organization.
The Trump-Vance campaign launched its Catholics for Trump coalition earlier this month, which emphasizes the defense of religious liberty, traditional values, and the sanctity of human life as priorities.
A Pew poll released last week showed that a slim majority of Catholics supported Trump over Harris with the former president receiving 52% support and the vice president getting 47%. An EWTN News/RealClear poll earlier this month showed Harris with a slight lead among Catholics at 50% of the vote compared with Trump’s 43%.
