During her weekly press conference on Thursday, Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) was asked a question about abortion. The speaker got quite testy over the question asked by CNSNews' intern, Julia Johnson, giving a non-answer which affirmed her pro-abortion stance, but did nothing to address the humanity of unborn children, which was at the heart of Johnson's question. She proceeded to ignore Johnson's attempts to get a complete answer.
Check out my article for @cnsnews: https://t.co/efYyXbBvOq
— Julia Johnson (@juliaajohnson_) June 17, 2021
According to a transcript provided in Johnson's article:
Pelosi: Yes, ma’am.
CNSNews.com: Thank you Madam Speaker. I am with CNSNews. The Supreme Court this fall will review a Mississippi law that bans most abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy. Is an unborn baby at 15 weeks a human being?
Pelosi: Let me just say that I’m a big supporter of Roe vs. Wade. I am a mother of five children in six years. I think I have some standing on this issue as to respecting a woman’s right to choose.
CNSnews.com: Is it a human being?
The speaker then went on to recognize another reporter, pointing to that reporter with a "yes, yes ma'am."
Nothing about Pelosi's response answered Johnson's question. Nothing. There was no relevance in bringing up her five children, as she is not the arbiter of deciding their humanity, though it's clear she thinks she is. Is she saying her children at 15-weeks were not human beings?
While the speaker may consider herself as "hav[ing] some standing on this issue as to respecting a woman's right to choose," what does not give her standing is that she is both publicly a Catholic, but also particularly pro-abortion.
As I've been reporting on, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) are meeting this week where they have just voted on a document with results to be released on Friday which discusses the Eucharist, and may do so in the context of whether or not pro-abortion Catholic politicians, like Pelosi and President Joe Biden, should present themselves for the sacrament of Holy Communion.
The document will likely not and should not mention Pelosi by name. Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone of San Francisco, Pelosi's home diocese, released a pastoral letter on May 1 about abortion and the Eucharist. He did not address Pelosi by name as, again, it would not be proper.
Pelosi also largely rebuffed discussing the topic when asked at a press conference last month, claiming "I think I can use my own judgment on that" when it comes to taking communion.
The case Johnson made reference to which will come before the Supreme Court in the fall term is Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health, which will indeed decide the constitutionality of a 15-week abortion ban from Mississippi. The decision may ultimately overturn or uphold Roe v. Wade, but it is also possible, likely even, that it will overturn it in part and uphold it in part. The Court will decide if pre-viability bans are constitutional or not.
While Roe v. Wade focused on a concept of viability, science has evolved since that case was decided in 1973, with medical care also improving. Such is a reason for optimism from pro-life leaders in politics and throughout the movement who hope and believe that the Supreme Court will overturn Roe, at least in part.
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