House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) must take the same view on faith that she does on health care: you have to subscribe to it before you find out what's in it. The woman who once called abortion "sacred ground" did Catholicism another major disservice this week when the former House Speaker claimed she's a "devout, practicing Catholic" who's never supported abortion on demand.
Say what? Believe it or not, those were the California member's very words in an interview with Roll Call. Pelosi went on to talk about how she had five children under the age of six at one point, so "I'm with the program in terms of the Catholic Church." Personally, perhaps—but not publicly. You'd have to be living under a rock for the last decade to mistake Nancy Pelosi for anything but an ally of the far-Left abortion lobby. In fact, her staunch abortion advocacy is what's gotten Pelosi in hot water with the very church she claims. Even the Vatican agreed that it made "perfect sense" to exclude Pelosi from communion in light of her anti-church positions -- which continued even in this conversation.
Opposing Planned Parenthood, she claimed is "not about terminating a pregnancy as much as it is -- well, it is about that -- but it's also largely about contraception." But, she said, catching herself, "It's really important not to change the subject back to abortion; they don't believe in contraception and family planning. [Republicans] don't believe in it." See what Pelosi did there? She exposed the Left's strategy -- which is focusing on everything but abortion. Like most Democrats, she knows that half of the country may support abortion, but many more oppose are still uncomfortable with it. That's why she tried to distance Planned Parenthood, the recipient of more than a half-billion taxpayer dollars, from the practice. Secondly, she perpetuated the lie about the GOP's position on birth control. She knows that Americans don't think pro-lifers are extreme -- but they would think outlawing contraception is. And while Republicans have never lobbied for that, Pelosi and other liberals continue saying so.
The truth is, the GOP doesn't want to ban contraception -- it just doesn't think charities like Little Sisters of the Poor should be forced to pay for it. And that's hardly a radical position. It was the status quo in America until ObamaCare passed. Now, abortion groups everywhere are claiming that conservatives want to deny women a benefit that they never had. Later, when asked if Congress should stop setting limits on abortion, the Minority Leader replied: "No. I don't believe in abortion on demand. I don't believe that abortion is a form of birth control or contraception..." You wouldn't know it from her three decades in the House! And while only God can judge men's hearts, their voting records are fair game.
Not only has Pelosi supported abortion, but she's supported the most barbaric forms of it. If letting abortionists kill babies halfway out of the womb isn't "abortion on demand," then what is? Four times -- 1997, 2000, 2002, and 2003 -- the Californian voted against the partial-birth abortion ban, putting herself at odds with even liberals Tom Daschle, Harry Reid, and Joe Biden. Now, with less of the country looking at abortion as a solution, its biggest proponents are scrambling to strike a more reasonable tone.
Not surprisingly, that doesn't sit well with groups like NARAL Pro-Choice America, who expect a better return on their political investment. In a rare public rebuke, the organization blasted Pelosi for retreating even an inch on abortion, insisting that she should "stop using twisted GOP talking points about abortion and birth control." "At a time when our rights are under daily attack in the halls of Congress, on the campaign trail, in statehouses, and in the courts -- now more than ever, we need our champions to speak with a clear and strong voice in support of our legal right to abortion. Unfortunately, Leader Pelosi's recent comments fall well short of this standard." It will be interesting to see how Pelosi responds. Like most liberals, she's used to taking money from the abortion movement -- but not heat.
