Paul Ryan and Vice President Joe Biden had a sharp divide on the issues of life and contraception despite their shared Catholic faith in Thursday’s vice presidential debate.
Asked by moderator Martha Raddatz how their faith informs their viewpoints on abortion, the two candidates both stressed the role of faith in their lives.
“I don’t see how a person can separate their public life from their private life or from their faith. Our faith informs us in everything we do,” Ryan said.
Biden said likewise, but differed with Ryan on abortion, saying he personally believes that life begins at conception but does not want to force people who disagree with him to accept the Catholic Church’s teaching.
“I do not believe that we have a right to tell other people that — women they can’t control their body,” he said.
He then unsuccessfully tried to portray Ryan as disingenuous on the issue because Ryan personally believes that abortion should not be allowed in instances of rape and incest, but his running mate, GOP presidential nominee, Mitt Romney does.
Ryan would not take the bait, though, and said “The policy of a Romney administration is to oppose abortion with exceptions for rape, incest and life of the mother,” making it clear that his personal views on abortion were not in play.
The GOP Vice Presidential nominee further pointed out the Obama administration’s contraception mandate has undermined religious freedom, making it necessary for the Catholic Church to sue the federal government.
Yet, Biden denied that the Catholic institutions will be forced to provide contraceptives.
He also tried to make the argument that because Romney-Ryan would have the opportunity to appoint conservative judges to the Supreme Court abortion would almost certainly be outlawed if they were elected.
Ryan unfortunately did not get to give a rebuttal to Biden’s claim, however, as the debate was nearly over and the debate moderator opted to move onto another question.
