During her weekly press conference on Thursday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) made some alarming comments. As Julio highlighted, she refused to condemn the uptick of violence against pro-life organizations, and instead went with the narrative about how "a woman has a right to choose." Almost as alarming, though, is how the speaker still refers to herself as a "very Catholic person."
"Madam Speaker, actually, as far as the abortion case is concerned, there has been a number of attacks on churches, on crisis pregnancy centers. Republicans are going after Democrats for not saying anything, and they're saying that your rhetoric is contributing to these attacks on these crisis pregnancy centers," a reporter accurately mentioned.
Pelosi made it a point to emphasize her view that "a woman has a right to choose, to live up to her responsibility." She even went on to say that "this talk of politicizing all of this, I think, is something uniquely American and not right" and point out that the "very Catholic countries" of Ireland, Italy, and Mexico, have expanded abortion in their countries through legislation.
What the speaker fails to acknowledge, though, is that the United States is unique, just not so much in the way she thinks it is. Under the strict confines of Roe v. Wade, which the U.S. Supreme Court looks to be overturning, the United States is just one of seven countries that allows for elective abortions past 20-weeks.
Ireland, Italy, and Mexico are not among them. In Ireland, abortion is legal for the first 12 weeks of pregnancy, and later in other circumstances. In Italy, abortions are freely available for women to request within 90 days, and it's actually becoming more difficult to get an abortion there, with a POLITICO report directly comparing the country to America's increasing restrictions on abortion. With Mexico having decriminalized abortion last year, individual states have been legalizing the procedure, many at about 12 weeks.
Pelosi even went on to tout her own supposed Catholic faith. "I'm a very Catholic person, and I believe in every woman's right to make her own decisions."
WATCH: @SpeakerPelosi after refusing to answer whether she believes abortion is murder: “I’m a very Catholic person.”
— Chad Gilmartin (@ChadGilmartinCA) June 16, 2022
Pelosi voted for a bill that would allow abortion on demand up until the moment of birth ?? pic.twitter.com/TSMjeNYRcI
This response is even more so noteworthy considering she dismissed a previous reporter who had asked her if she agreed with Pope John Paul II and the current pope, Pope Francis, classifying abortion as murder.
"What I agree on is that whatever I believe or agree with the Popes on is not necessarily what public policy should be in the United States, as people make their own judgments, honor their own responsibilities and attend to the needs of their families," the speaker responded.
While the speaker may regard herself as "a very Catholic person," Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone of San Francisco, where Pelosi calls home, has publicly indicated otherwise. For her refusal to denounce her pro-abortion politics, the archbishop indicated in a letter from May 20 that she may not present herself for Holy Communion while attending Mass in the archdiocese.
Further, Pelosi's specific phrasing makes it seem as if one can be "a very Catholic person" and be pro-abortion, which the teaching of the Catholic Church and Pelosi's own archbishop have made abundantly clear is not the case. In continuing to make such claims, the Church sees Pelosi as creating a public scandal and endangering her own soul. It doesn't look like she is ready to receive Holy Communion in her home archdiocese any time soon, then.
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