It implements a novel understanding of marriage, which will grievously harm families and children, the bishops said.

After the Supreme Court in 1976 allowed states to reinstate the death penalty, 37 states had laws on the books permitting capital punishment.

What would happen in a Roe v. Wade reversal is far from certain, Balch added. "Theres a lot of scholarly writing in the event of what would happen," she said, like how to enforce a law outlawing abortion that is still on the books but that has been dormant for close to four decades. "Even if there a

A Vatican spokesman dismissed reports that the Holy See has rejected several candidates because of their support for legal abortion.

"The budget choices of Congress have clear moral and human dimensions," the bishops said.

"These people have no alternative but to entrust themselves to human smugglers who often treat them as meat," said one human rights worker.