Why the pope says Trump and Harris are both ‘against life’

Pope Francis commented on the 2024 election Friday during his flight home from the longest trip of his papacy: a 12-day journey across Asia.
The Catholic leader said former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris are both “against life,” while criticizing some of their policy positions.
“Both are against life. Both are against life. Both: the one who throws out migrants and the one who kills children. Both are against life,” Pope Francis said, per America magazine.
The pope’s main concern about Trump stems from the former president’s immigration policy. On the campaign trail, Trump speaks often about violence committed by immigrants and has promised to increase deportation if he returns to the White House.
Pope Francis said it’s a sin to not welcome migrants, according to America magazine.
“In the Old Testament,” the pope said Friday, “there is a refrain: The orphan, the widow and the stranger — that is, the migrant. They are the three that the people of Israel must protect. The one who does not protect the migrant is failing. It is a sin. It’s also a sin against the life of those people.”
He argued that the Bible supports immigration.
“Immigration is a right, a right that is in sacred scripture, and it was in the Old Testament: the stranger, the orphan and the widow. Don’t forget that. That’s what I think on migrants,” Pope Francis said.
The pope was also critical of Harris, but, in her case, his displeasure stems from her plan to expand abortion access.
“To have an abortion is to kill a human being. You may like the word, or you don’t like it, but it is to kill. … The church does not permit abortion. Why? Because it is to kill, it’s an assassination. It’s an assassination, and we must have things clear on this,” he said, per America magazine.
As Pope Francis noted, the Catholic Church is against abortion. Other faith groups leave abortion decisions up to individual church members, or say that abortion should be legal when a mother’s life is threatened.
During the Sept. 10 presidential debate, Harris argued that you don’t have to abandon your religious beliefs to advocate for expanding abortion access, as the Deseret News previously reported.
“One does not have to abandon their faith or deeply held beliefs to agree the government, and Donald Trump certainly, should not be telling a woman what to do with her body,” she said.
During Friday’s flight, Pope Francis was asked whether it’s moral for a Catholic to vote for a candidate who supports abortion.
The pope didn’t offer a direct answer, according to America magazine. Instead, he described the choice between Trump and Harris as a quest for a “lesser evil.”
“In the moral (teaching) about politics, in general, it is said that to not vote is bad. It is not good. You must vote, and one has to choose the lesser evil,” he said.
The pope continued, “What is the lesser evil? That woman, or that man? … I don’t know. Each one, in their conscience, must think and (vote.)”
The most recenter survey from Pew Research Center found that U.S. Catholics are pretty evenly divided between the two candidates, with white Catholics leaning more toward Trump and Hispanic Catholics leaning more toward Harris.
If the 2024 presidential election were held today, 52% of registered voters who are Catholic would vote for Trump, while 47% were vote for Harris, Pew reported.