A Catholic priest has denied communion to former Vice President Joe Biden in a South Carolina church on Sunday, Oct. 27 for his defense of abortion. Father Robert E. Morey denied Holy Communion to Joe Biden, a declared Catholic, at St. Anthony’s Catholic Church in Florence, where the Democratic candidate attended Mass on the weekend. Historically the presidential hopeful has belonged to the most conservative wing of the Democratic Party, yet this summer he declared his opposition to the Hyde Amendment, which bans the allocation of federal funds to finance abortion and which he had previously supported.

iden defended his decision, arguing he can no longer support an amendment that makes a woman’s right to abortion “dependent on someone’s ZIP code,” thus recognizing abortion as a ‘right,’ according to Fox News.