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Sioux Falls, November 3, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – As the first Senate leader in more than 50 years to be voted out of office, Tom Daschle has added one last milestone to his career as one of the US’s most outspoken and determined “Catholic” abortion-supporting politicians.

In 2002, the Democratic Party leader from Sioux Falls SD, identified himself as a single-issue pro-abortion activist. Daschle wrote a fundraising letter on behalf of the National Abortion Rights Action League, (NARAL) saying, “As the Majority Leader of the U.S. Senate, I’ve stood up for a woman’s right to choose, and the pro-choice leadership of the Senate has made a difference by safeguarding women’s rights from the anti-choice agenda of the Bush administration.” He wrote that the re-election of certain Democrat “pro-choice” senators is essential to preserve “pro-choice” control of the Senate

Daschle blocked votes on five major pro-life bills that passed the U.S. House including the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act and the bill to ban human cloning.

He outraged Catholics by making the now-customary claim that his politics and his religious practice were not at odds. Daschle persisted in receiving communion in his church, and in publicly calling himself a ‘devout’ Catholic.

In April 2003, Daschle’s bishop, Robert Carlson ordered him to stop calling himself a Catholic in his official biography. An article in the Weekly Standard reported that the bishop had directed him to “remove from his congressional biography and campaign documents all references to his standing as a member of the Catholic Church.” Bishop Carlson said in an interview, “NARAL claims him as one of their number-one supporters. I don’t understand how he can be in touch with South Dakotans as much as he is, and yet consistently have a pro-abortion record.”

Daschle lost his seat in yesterday’s election to Rep. John Thune by 4,535 votes of nearly 400,000 cast. The Republican Party specifically targeted Daschle for unseating, calling him a chief obstacle to tax cuts and the war in Iraq. Pro-life Americans however, are the ones who will be rejoicing at one of the US’s most virulent promoters of the anti-life, anti-family agenda that has become the keystone of the Democrat’s policies.

Previous LifeSiteNews.com coverage:  https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2002/nov/02110102.html

Weekly Standard on Bishop Carlson’s letter:  https://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/002/559jrrei.asp   ph