Grand Canyon Times

The leader of one of the nation's largest Catholic activist organizations criticized Sen. Mark Kelly’s (D-AZ) support of a failed federal bill banning state abortion restrictions. 

“Mark Kelly professes to be Catholic, but he just voted to legalize killing partially-born, vulnerable children," Brian Burch, president and founder of Catholic Vote, told Grand Canyon Times. "Next, he wants to legalize secret abortions for teens — to allow Planned Parenthood to market to high school students. It’s time Arizona Catholic voters need to know the truth about Kelly. Pay attention to his acts. Mark Kelly is Catholic in name only.”

Earlier this year, Kelly voted in support of the Women's Health Protection Act. The measure would have blocked states from passing laws that limit or restrict access to abortion, according to the United States Senate. Now, Kelly, who identifies as Catholic, is under fire from Catholic organizations that call his stance on the matter "anti-Catholic."

"The bill prohibits any legislature anywhere from enacting eleven specific categories of abortion regulation, as well as any that are 'similar' to them," Thomas Jipping, senior legal fellow at the Heritage Foundation, said. "This legislative ban covers anything that is 'reasonably likely' to delay ... some patients from getting an abortion, to 'indirectly' increase the cost of doing so, or even necessitating a trip to the doctor’s office."

In February, the Senate failed to pass the Women's Health Protection Act, legislation that the U.S. Conference on Catholic Bishops (USCCB) called the vote "relief," in a press release. If senators approved the bill, it would have included banning both state partial-birth abortion laws and parental consent requirements for minors seeking abortions, in addition to numerous other mandates for women's health. 

"One of the most radical abortion bills in the entire Western world," Rep. Ron Estes (R-KS) said, according to Newsweek. "This would add the United States to a list of only seven countries with such an extreme policy — the others include North Korea and China."

According to a report from Virginia-based Charlotte Lozier Institute, 47 of 50 European countries ban partial-birth abortions after 15 weeks, with the only three countries that allow elective abortions after 15 weeks being Iceland (22 weeks), Netherlands (24 weeks), and Sweden (18 weeks).