The legislation is co-sponsored by several dozen representatives and senators and has attracted the support of over 400 organizations, including the Catholic Mobilizing Network.
Krisanne Murphy, the executive director of the group, said in the press release that “as Catholics who believe in the inviolability of human dignity, we understand that we can’t build a culture of life under a federal government that can put people to death.”
“We support the Federal Death Penalty Prohibition Act, which would eradicate this flawed and morally bankrupt system, and open up the possibility for more healing forms of justice,” Murphy wrote.
Durbin himself is Catholic, though he is also an outspoken proponent of abortion rights, writing on his website that the decision to abort an unborn child “is a deeply personal one that is best left to a pregnant [woman].”
The Catholic Church has long been opposed to the imposition of the death penalty. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has argued that the state “has the recourse to impose the death penalty upon criminals convicted of heinous crimes if this ultimate sanction is the only available means to protect society from a grave threat to human life.”
Capital punishment “should not be exercised when other ways are available to punish criminals and to protect society that are more respectful of human life,” the bishops wrote.