Joe Biden's stance on abortion is landing him in some hot water, and leading the president to break a 20-year tradition.
As the Washington Examiner reported, Biden skipped out on the commencement services at the University of Notre Dame this weekend after students and alumni spoke out against his stance on abortion. The Catholic institution still invited Biden to attend, but he declined while citing a scheduling conflict, the report noted.
As the Catholic News Agency reported, close to 4,300 members of the Notre Dame community signed a petition calling on the university's president to withdraw the invitation for Biden due to his support of abortion.
As the Washington Examiner noted, there had been a tradition dating back to 2001 of either the president or vice president addressing graduates at the Catholic institution during their first year in office. It was not clear if the petition played any role in Biden deciding not to attend or if the scheduling conflicts did keep him from appearing.
As the Washington Examiner noted, the petition laid out the objections to Biden appearing at the graduation, pointing out his stances that go against the Catholic Church's teachings. It also drew a line between Biden and Barack Obama.
"He rejects Church teachings on abortion, marriage, sex and gender and is hostile to religious liberty,” it continued. “He embraces the most pro-abortion and anti-religious liberty public policy program in history. The case against honoring him is immeasurably stronger than it was against honoring President Obama.”
Though the Notre Dame students and alumni spoke out against his invitation to attend commencement, Biden remains largely popular with Americans as a whole. After former President Donald Trump struggled to notch 50 percent approval throughout his four years, Biden has already topped that mark.
Biden even reached as high as 61 percent in an April poll, a mark that had not been seen since early in Obama's time in office. Biden also received high marks on his handling of the economy and the COVID-19 pandemic.
Biden has already pushed a number of large initiatives in his first few months in office, including a new COVID-19 relief bill and a new large-scale infrastructure project -- both of which have scored as popular with Americans in polling. The early victories have helped his overall approval ratings.
Biden has made overtures to Republicans for support on these measures, but has found little in Congress as a large number remain committed to Trump, who still insists that the 2020 election was stolen from him.
