Catholics for Choice Responds to U.S. Catholic Bishops Electing Daniel Thomas of Toledo as Chair of Committee on Pro-Life Activities

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Tuesday, November 14, 2023
Contact: John Becker, Press Secretary
Phone: 202-203-0931
Email: jbecker@catholicsforchoice.org

Catholics for Choice Responds to U.S. Catholic Bishops
Electing Daniel Thomas of Toledo as Chair of the Committee on Pro-Life Activities
Jamie L. Manson: “In electing an Ohio bishop as the new chair… [the] bishops are doubling down on their losing abortion strategy through 2024.”

WASHINGTON — Catholics for Choice, which uplifts and amplifies the voices of the majority of Catholics who believe in reproductive freedom, issued the following response from President Jamie L. Manson, M.Div., to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops electing Bishop Daniel Thomas of Toledo as chairman of the USCCB’s Committee on Pro-Life Activities at their meeting in Baltimore today:

“It’s ironic that the U.S. bishops selected Bishop Daniel Thomas of Toledo as chairman of the USCCB’s Committee on Pro-Life Activities, since he serves the state where Catholic bishops and Catholic-affiliated groups just spent more than $12 million fighting a losing battle against abortion access.

“In Ohio and across the country, the vast majority of Catholics reject the divisive anti-abortion stance of Daniel Thomas and his brother bishops: 63% of Catholics think abortion should be legal in all or most cases, and 68% did not want to see Roe v. Wade overturned. The campaign in Ohio was a financial failure, where Catholics’ hard-earned money could have been better spent championing true pro-life (not just pro-birth) causes. It was also a pastoral failure, where church leaders refused to listen to or consider the experiences of any woman who has had an abortion, including the 1 in 4 abortion patients in the U.S. who identifies as Catholic.

“In electing an Ohio bishop as the new chair for the Committee on ‘Pro-Life’ Activities during the same meeting where the bishops will also discuss Faithful Citizenship, the USCCB’s guide for Catholic voters, the Catholic bishops are doubling down on their losing abortion strategy through 2024. Catholics for Choice is committed to an electoral strategy that listens to the real stories of Catholics who choose abortion and keeps the bishops out of our voting booths and doctors’ offices. It is clearer than ever that the Catholic church will continue to spend big in elections — and they will continue to lose.”

Catholics for Choice will continue to monitor the activities of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops at their fall meeting on November 13-16, 2023.

Catholics for Choice shapes and advances sexual and reproductive ethics that are based on justice, reflect a commitment to a person’s well-being and respect, and affirm the capacity of all people to make moral decisions about their lives.