In Ohio, a Catholic-run school, Mt. Saint Joseph University (MSJU) confirmed that they would be hosting CNN’s town hall meeting where President Joe Biden will attend. The university confirmed the meeting on Tuesday, July 20; the town hall meeting will be held on Wednesday, July 21.
Biden, the 2nd Catholic president in US history, has made it clear that he supports the government protecting abortion rights, although he is personally opposed to the procedure. In May of this year, his budget proposal for the 2022 fiscal year included an amendment that will allow funding for state-sponsored abortion. The Catholic church is not happy with Biden’s stance on abortion. Last month, Catholic bishops announced that they plan to establish guidelines on when and how a Catholic can lose the right to receive the Eucharist. The bishops are planning to deliberate on this topic, November of this year.
With Biden’s stance on this crucial social issue, six months into his presidency, anti-abortion groups and others who subscribe to the same narrative got riled up. A pro-life group based in Ohio plans to meet Biden’s town hall with protests. They want the president to know that being a Catholic and supporting abortion will not work.
The anti-abortion group, Right to Life of Greater Cincinnati (RTLGC), began reaching out to the Sisters of Charity, a Catholic congregation that runs and manages Mount St. Joseph University. The group calls Biden the “most pro-abortion president” in US history despite being a Catholic and stand against him for repealing restrictions on abortions funded by the state that the Trump administration established. RTLGC claimed that Biden destroyed Trump’s legacy by creating a “radically pro-abortion cabinet.”
On their website, RTLGC calls out to the public, asking them to join their protest. They plan to position themselves in front of the MSJU sign. The group also published the phone numbers for the MSJU Sisters of Charity, urging more people to call them.
The school released a statement after news of the anti-abortion group’s plan to protest Biden’s town hall meeting, which CNN will broadcast. The school emphasized that they have “always been and will continue to be a diverse and inclusive place where people from different races, ethnicities, social backgrounds, beliefs, and religions can come together to discuss and share their unique perspectives.”