Shamita Basu

They didn't mention President Trump specifically in their message, and a White House spokesperson responded to it by saying Trump is carrying out a promise made to American voters.

The last time this group delivered this kind of message was over a decade ago, when they criticized the government's contraceptive mandate requiring health plans to cover a range of birth control options at no cost to patients.

Observers say the Conference of Bishops is following the lead of its new head.

Earlier this month, Pope Leo was asked about the conditions of migrants held in a facility in Broadview, Illinois, near Chicago, where he's from.

Those remarks surprised some because Leo has been considerably less outspoken compared to his predecessor, Pope Francis.

Joshua McElwee is the Vatican correspondent for Reuters.

He told us that after those comments, some bishops may now be feeling emboldened.

El Paso Bishop Mark Seitz, who leads a diocese spanning counties that border Mexico, told McElwee about his recent work.

But McElwee stressed that the political signals of the Catholic Church are rarely straightforward.

Only recently, the bishops also elected a new conservative president in a close vote.

McElwee said he'll be interested to see what Coakley's future looks like, but added that many Catholics are more focused on their local parishes than the leadership of this conference itself.

And as for Pope Leo, not every intervention is political.

Over the weekend, he hosted Hollywood stars like Cate Blanchett, Monica Bellucci, and Spike Lee, urging them to continue their work as, quote, pilgrims of the imagination.

Startups funded by powerful billionaires in Silicon Valley are pushing the boundaries of reproductive genetics.

That's according to reporting from The Wall Street Journal's Emily Glazer, who told us that one company called Preventative is working on creating a child born from an embryo edited to prevent hereditary disease.

The company has high-profile backers, including OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, his husband, and the chief executive of the crypto platform Coinbase.

Right now, scientists in the U.S.

and elsewhere use gene editing technology to clip and insert DNA after a child is born.

But the practice is banned when it comes to editing embryos and creating babies from them.

Preventative's CEO says regulatory constraints force the company to work outside the U.S., and the company is focused on research that would prove embryo editing is safe before attempting to bring a baby to term.