San Francisco Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi took issue with comments made by that city’s Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone regarding an abortion rights bill that Pelosi pushed through the House of Representatives. Cordileone called the measure “nothing short of child sacrifice” and invited Catholics “to pray and fast for members of Congress to do the right thing and keep this atrocity from being enacted in the law”.
Speaking at her weekly news conference, Pelosi said: “The archbishop of the city – of that area, of San Francisco – and I have a disagreement about who should decide this. I believe that God has given us a free will to honour our responsibilities.”
Pelosi said that her extended family is all pro-life, and that she gave birth to five children in six years and one day. “For us, it was a complete and total blessing, which we enjoy every day of our lives. But it’s none of our business how other people choose the size and timing of their families.”
The abortion bill, which would remove virtually all restrictions on abortion, remove health standards from abortion clinics, and provide federal funds for elective abortions for the first time, passed on a vote of 218-211 with only one Democrat, Cong. Henry Cuellar of Texas, opposing it. It has no chance of passing the Senate where the partisan divide is 50-50.
Pelosi’s push for the abortion legislation came amidst controversy over a new Texas law that even many pro-life advocates opposed because it incentivizes citizens to sue each other if they allege a person helped a woman procure an abortion after six weeks. The US Supreme is to hear oral arguments December 1 on an abortion case from Mississippi that could lead to overturning the 1973 Roe v Wade decision that established a constitutional right to an abortion in all fifty states.
In the US legislative system, the Speaker of the House is the most powerful member of Congress, deciding which bills are brought to a vote. Therefore, as the country confronts the fraught issue of abortion rights, all three branches of government are led by Catholics: President Joe Biden and Chief Justice John Roberts, like Pelosi, attend Mass weekly.
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