U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on Tuesday took aim at the Catholic Church for what she characterized as hypocrisy on the issue of abortion.
Pelosi, who is Catholic, was recently prohibited by the Archbishop of San Francisco from taking communion due to her support for abortion, which the church considers murder from the moment of conception onwards.
While on MSNBC’s Morning Joe on Tuesday, Pelosi asked why Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone has not placed the same ban on Catholics who support the death penalty, which the Catholic Church also is against.
“I wonder about the death penalty, which I am opposed to,” she said. “So is the church, but they take no action against people who may not share their view.”
This isn’t the first time Pelosi has been at odds with Cordileone, a fervent conservative who for years has been outspoken about Pelosi’s support for abortion, gay marriage, and other liberal positions that run counter to Catholic teachings.
The archbishop also stirred controversy amid the Covid-19 pandemic when he revealed he was not vaccinated. He also said the Covid shots are “not really vaccines.”
Cordileone banned Pelosi from receiving communion last week. The decision runs counter to advice from the Pope and the Vatican, who have warned against denying communion to supporters of abortion.
Cordileone described the speaker’s position as a “grave evil,” a “scandal,” and a “danger to her own soul.”
“I have determined that the point has come in which I must make a public declaration that she is not to be admitted to Holy Communion unless and until she publicly repudiate her support for abortion ‘rights’ and confess and receive absolution for her cooperation in this evil in the sacrament of Penance,” Cordileone wrote.
“I assure you,” he added, “that my action here is purely pastoral, not political.”
Nevertheless, Pelosi took communion in Washington, D.C., over the weekend.
Pelosi has been vocal on the issue of abortion in recent days amid the leak of a draft ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court that would reverse Roe v. Wade — the decision that legalized abortion throughout the country.
“What is important for women to know, and families to know, [is] that this is not just about terminating a pregnancy,” Pelosi said on MSNBC. “Some of these same people are against contraception, family planning, in vitro fertilization. It’s a blanket thing, and they use abortion as the frontman for it while they try to undo so much.”
If Roe is overturned, plans to outlaw abortion at the state level may be complicated in places such as Iowa, where a past state Supreme Court ruling could create another hurdle to be dealt with.
Iowa currently has large GOP legislative majorities and a Republican governor who is strongly against abortion. But in 2018, the Iowa Supreme Court made a ruling that at the time was taken as establishing access to abortion in the state.
The Iowa Supreme Court decision currently under consideration shot down a 2017 law signed by then-governor Terry Branstad that required a woman to wait 72 hours before receiving an abortion. Ultimately, the high court at the time ruled 5-2 that Iowa’s constitution guarantees access to abortion.
But Branstad’s successor, Kim Reynolds, has nevertheless signed additional abortion restrictions, including a heartbeat bill and requiring a 24-hour waiting period. A state district court struck down both pieces of legislation last year.
Iowa Republicans are hoping the new high court with new, conservative justices will reverse the decision made just four years ago.
Democrats have already vowed to pack the Supreme Court if Roe v. Wade is overturned.
As TNA has reported:
Democrats have already introduced bills in both chambers of Congress to increase the number of Supreme Court justices from nine to 13, thereby giving President Joe Biden the opportunity to appoint enough liberal justices to thwart the conservative ones.
… “Chipping away at Roe v. Wade will precipitate a seismic movement to reform the Supreme Court,” said [Sen. Richard] Blumenthal. “It may not be expanding the Supreme Court, it may be making changes to its jurisdiction, or requiring a certain number of votes to strike down certain past precedents.”
Pelosi’s latest feud once more shows that, for Democrats, politics trumps faith.
