Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi Joins Obama Not Knowing When Life Begins
by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
August 24, 2008
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) — Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, joined pro-abortion presidential candidate Barack Obama on Sunday in saying she doesn’t know when human life begins. Obama was criticized for saying the same thing during the first presidential forum with John McCain.
During the forum, Obama gave a now-infamous answer avoiding the question of when human rights begin by saying it is "above my pay grade."
And if the fundamental question of when human life and human rights begin is above the capability of Obama to answer, it apparently is above the ability of Pelosi as well.
During an interview with Tom Brokaw on the NBC program "Meet the Press," the speaker also demurred.
Brokaw asked: "Senator Obama saying the question of when life begins is above his pay grade, whether you’re looking at it scientifically or theologically. If he were to come to you and say, ‘Help me out here, Madame Speaker. When does life begin?’ what would you tell him?"
"I would say that as an ardent, practicing Catholic, this is an issue that I have studied for a long time. And what I know is, over the centuries, the doctors of the church have not been able to make that definition," she claimed.
"And Senator–St. Augustine said at three months. We don’t know," she added. "The point is it that it shouldn’t have an impact on a woman’s right to chose.”
Kathryn Jean Lopez, the editor of National Review Online, took exception to the comment.
"It shouldn’t have an impact?" she asked. "Tell that to parents looking at sonograms. Look, it’s obviously alive."
She added: "It’s the blind leading the blind in that party if the ‘ardent practicing Catholic’ doesn’t care when life begins, only that women have the choice to do what they ‘choose’ (sometimes, thanks to people like Pelosi, not aware of what their choices actually are) whether it’s life or not."
Lopez said Brokaw should have broached another heated subject.
"Brokaw should have asked her about infanticide — Obama and the Born-Alive Act. But her answer may have been even more terrifying," she said.
Brokaw did follow up on the questioning of the beginning of human life. He said that the Catholic Church has a very clear moral and scientific definition that life begins at the point of conception.
"The Catholic Church at the moment feels very strongly that it begins at the point of conception," he said.
"I understand," Pelosi responded. "And this is like maybe 50 years or something like that."
Pelosi eventually redirected the question to abortion and contraception.
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