WASHINGTON, D.C. (LifeSiteNews) — The Biden administration’s Department of Homeland Security (DHS) reportedly notified Catholic bishops of credible threats to churches and members of the clergy if the U.S. Supreme Court opts to eliminate the federal “right to abortion” by overturning Roe v. Wade.
Rod Dreher, senior editor of The American Conservative and author of “The Benedict Option,” wrote in a June 2 tweet that, according to an “informed source,” the DHS had “officially notified the bishops there are credible threats to the safety of Catholic churches, clergy, and bishops if the Supreme Court overturns Roe.”
“Violence has been called for beginning the night such a decision is handed down,” Dreher said.
Informed source: Homeland Security has officially notified the bishops there are credible threats to the safety of Catholic churches, clergy, and bishops if the Supreme Court overturns Roe. Violence has been called for beginning the night such a decision is handed down.
— Rod Dreher (@roddreher) June 3, 2022
Dreher’s statement comes after the DHS last month raised the alarm about the likely escalation of violence from pro-abortion extremists, including attacks targeting clergy and places of worship, if the Supreme Court overturns Roe.
In the unclassified memo by the DHS’ intelligence arm released May 13, the agency noted that law enforcement agencies are investigating violent threats as the Supreme Court prepares to hand down its ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which concerns Mississippi’s 15-week abortion ban.
The threats are reportedly “likely to persist and may increase leading up to and following the issuing of the Court’s official ruling.”
New: The U.S. government is bracing for a potential surge in political violence once the Supreme Court hands down the ruling that’s expected to overturn Roe v. Wade, according to a Department of Homeland Security memo obtained by me and @SophiaCai99 https://t.co/CE4Gp8g75n
— Stef Kight (@StefWKight) May 18, 2022
Many believe the Supreme Court will rule in favor of Mississippi’s right to limit abortion after an unprecedented leak of a draft majority opinion suggested the Court is planning to overturn Roe v. Wade, leaving the legality of abortion up to individual states.
Already, pro-abortion advocates have responded to the leaked draft opinion by unsuccessfully attempting to codify abortion in federal law up to the moment of birth, engaging in protests outside the homes of pro-life Supreme Court justices, and even vandalizing pro-life centers and Catholic churches.
Some abortion proponents have specifically targeted Catholics because the Church teaches that “[h]uman life must be respected and protected absolutely from the moment of conception,” with no exceptions.
According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, “From the first moment of his existence, a human being must be recognized as having the rights of a person — among which is the inviolable right of every innocent being to life.”
Last month, radical pro-abortion group “Ruth Sent Us” openly called for the use of a “diversity of tactics” to pressure the “six extremist Catholics” on the Supreme Court not to overturn Roe v. Wade.
The group had called on supporters who identify as “a ‘Catholic for Choice’ ex-Catholic, of other or no faith,” to “[s]tand at or in a local Catholic Church” on Mother’s Day to oppose the protection of the unborn under the law.