On Meet the Press this Sunday morning, Speaker of the House and self-appointed ‘Speaker of the Church’, Nancy Pelosi, when prompted by moderator Tom Brokaw, declared “[a]nd what I know is, over the centuries, the doctors of the Church have not been able to make that definition.”

The unresolved definition Nancy Pelosi was referring to was the Catholic Church’s position on ‘at what point life begins’. A self-described “ardent and practicing Catholic”, Speaker Pelosi claims to have “studied this for a long time” and arrived at the conclusion that “I don’t think anybody could tell you where life begins”, apparently including the Catholic Church.

Here are excerpts from the transcript from Sunday’s Meet the Press:  

MR. BROKAW: 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?

While Catholics know that faith is something that Sen. Obama feels that Americans simply ‘cling to’ during hard times, Pelosi’s assertions came as a real shock to many Catholics who know that the Church has consistently stood-up for the rights of the unborn. For many, it is especially destructive when it comes from a person who attempts to describes herself as a good Catholic and one who has a firm knowledge of Church doctrine. However, Mrs. Pelosi is dead-wrong on her assertions.

Beggining with the Bible, there are a number of direct references to abortion and to life starting at the point of conception (James 2:26). Throughout history the Church has maintained that the God-given soul is found in all humans from the point of conception until mortal death. As recent as 1995, Pope John Paul II declared in Evangelium Vitae 62:

“[T]he Church’s teaching on abortion “is unchanged and unchangeable. Therefore, by the authority which Christ conferred upon Peter and his successors . . . I declare that direct abortion, that is, abortion willed as an end or as a means, always constitutes a grave moral disorder, since it is the deliberate killing of an innocent human being. This doctrine is based upon the natural law and upon the written word of God, is transmitted by the Church’s tradition and taught by the ordinary and universal magisterium. No circumstance, no purpose, no law whatsoever can ever make licit an act which is intrinsically illicit, since it is contrary to the law of God which is written in every human heart, knowable by reason itself, and proclaimed by the Church”

As a surrogate for Barack Obama — in what can only be described as move of squalid political expediency — Nancy Pelosi appears to have purposefully misstated the position of the Church in an attempt to allay Catholic fears about the flawless pro-abortion voting record of Barack Obama.

Making-up a large number of the undecided voters this election cycle, Mr. Obama knows that he will likely need Catholic support to win on November 4. And he is doing his best to both satisfy his pro-abortion base and court disaffected Catholics. However, Catholics doubts about a man who has a clear and consistent liberal voting record and professed pro-abortion ideological stance will not simply be assuaged by a Pelosi or Joe Biden, no matter how many times they remind us that they too are Catholic. Mr. Obama’s words speak volumes about what kind of Presidency he would bring to the White House.

During the recent Saddleback forum with Pastor Rick Warren, Mr. Obama was asked to answer a question about when he though that an infant starts to have human rights. This was his answer: “whether you are looking at it from a theological perspective or a scientific perspective, answering that question with specificity is, you know, above my pay grade.”  

It has also been reported that Mr. Obama voted against a bill in the Illinois State Legislature which would have mandated that doctors try and save the life of an infant that had just survived a botched abortion. Called the Illinois Born Alive Infants Protection Act, Obama cited in particular his concerns about the constitutionality of the definition of a “born alive infant” and the inclusion of potential civil and criminal penalties for doctors in these situations.  

And he might also be trying to make people forget about his 2007 speech to Planned Parenthood where he assured the pro-abortion crowd that his first act as President would be to sign the Freedom of Choice Act, which would overturn hundreds of state laws which current place limits on abortion such as parental notification or waiting periods.

But, having spinsters such as Nancy Pelosi flat-out lie about the Catholic position on abortion certainly will not entice church-going Catholics to take a second look at Obama and will only serve to shed an amazing amount of light on his radically liberal views on abortion.