In an exchange that drew sharp responses from Catholic scholars and the local bishop, Democratic U.S. Senate candidate James Talarico told University of Dallas theology professor Jodi Hunt that “the Bible is silent on the issue” of abortion during an Oct. 14 CNN/Jubilee town hall in Fort Worth.
Hunt pushed back, drawing applause when she said the Bible does address abortion, as one of the Ten Commandments is “Thou shalt not kill,” and that Catholics are insulted when it is suggested otherwise.
Following the exchange, Hunt told EWTN News she thinks Talarico was trying to appear as a “centrist” to undecided voters, or Republicans unhappy with the party, but she does not think he was convincing.
“While it’s important to look at the whole picture of a candidate when discerning who to vote for,” she said, “respect for human life must drive everything else,” she said.
Fort Worth Bishop Michael Olson agreed, responding to the exchange on social media: “The right to life is the premier moral issue because all human rights depend upon the human person being alive. The right to life is the common ground for the morality of all issues considered in policies involving human dignity and the common good.”
“I’ve yet to see a candidate where I really have to think about it, where they’re pro-abortion but align with me on other issues,” Hunt added.
During the town hall, Talarico made a point of calling Pope Francis and Pope Leo “two of my favorite spiritual heroes” for being “consistently pro-life” on poverty, climate change, and war as well as abortion.
“I appreciate that he highlighted some of the social causes Catholics care about and mentioned the popes,” Hunt said. “But he was sidestepping. I thought it was a very politician-thing to do.”
Hunt said if she had the opportunity to push back more, she would have pressed him on how Catholics can trust he will do the right thing concerning climate change or the poor when he won’t defend the lives of the most vulnerable.
“If we can’t trust him to protect the most innocent among us, we can’t trust he’ll do anything he says,” Hunt explained.
Talarico went on to reframe abortion as “a public policy problem” rather than a moral issue, saying both sides share the goal of fewer “unplanned or unwanted pregnancies,” to be achieved through “scientifically valid sex education” and access to contraception, the use of which the Church calls intrinsically wrong.
“If I believed that abortion was murder or that it was against the 10 Commandments, then of course I would be against it, but we can just agree to disagree,” he said.
Susan Hanssen, a history professor at the University of Dallas, told EWTN News she was “shocked at how deceptive he (Talarico) is.”
“He lies to Christians about their own beliefs, and he does it very smoothly,” Hanssen said. “He tried to put the idea that abortion is murder into the category of debatable belief. No one in their right mind thinks that abortion kills anything but a baby human. It’s not a statement of religious belief, it’s just a statement of science and biology.”
In the aftermath of the exchange, the University of Dallas beamed about how Hunt handled the moment.
“Dr. Hunt demonstrated how to stand firmly in oneʼs faith while engaging respectfully with those who hold different views,” the University said, adding that she “exemplifies UDʼs mission to form leading citizens who bring their convictions into the public square with courage, clarity, and respect.”
Catholic commentator Kathryn Jean Lopez also praised Hunt’s participation, saying that in the exchange with Talarico she “demonstrated what it means to be a responsible Catholic engaged in our political life.”
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