Sunday, August 24, 2008

Nancy Pelosi on "Meet the Press"

The corruption of reason is one of the logical consequences of legalized abortion.

Here is the Speaker of the House this morning on "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?

REP. PELOSI: 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. And Senator--St. Augustine said at three months. We don't know. The point is, is that it shouldn't have an impact on the woman's right to choose. Roe v. Wade talks about very clear definitions of when the child--first trimester, certain considerations; second trimester; not so third trimester. There's very clear distinctions. This isn't about abortion on demand, it's about a careful, careful consideration of all factors and--to--that a woman has to make with her doctor and her god. And so I don't think anybody can tell you when life begins, human life begins."

To answer the simple question "When does life begin?" Nancy Pelosi chooses to cite the authority of a bishop who lived 1500 years ago. Madame Speaker, we don't ask the Doctors of the Church to "make that definition." One does not read St. Augustine to find out when life begins. One reads modern textbooks on biology and embryology. And when one does that, one finds out that we do know when life begins:

Nancy: "And so I don't think anybody can tell you when life begins, human life begins."

Actual expert: “When scientists could examine embryos under the microscope, they recognized that the processes of development constituted a continuum from fertilization through delivery. There is no magic moment at which an embryo suddenly becomes something different.” -William L. Nyhan, M.D.; Ph.D; “The Heredity Factor, " p256. (Professor Nyhan is a graduate of Harvard, Columbia, and the University of Illinois, and one-time Chairman of the Department of Pediatrics at the University of California.)

The fact is that Nancy Pelosi deliberately chooses not to consult the experts as to when a human life begins. She must make this choice because she knows she can only maintain her support for legalized abortion by a deliberately cultivated ignorance.

But truth is one. To justify her support of legalized abortion, Nancy must not only ignore the teachings of scientists, who are the proper authorities on the question of when life begins. She must also ignore the teaching of the Church, who are the proper authorities on the morality of abortion:

"Therefore, by the authority which Christ conferred upon Peter and his Successors, in communion with the Bishops—who on various occasions have condemned abortion and who in the aforementioned consultation, albeit dispersed throughout the world, have shown unanimous agreement concerning this doctrine—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."
-Pope John Paul II; "Evangelium Vitae," paragraph 62, March 25, 1995.

Pelosi says "that as an ardent, practicing Catholic, this is an issue that I have studied for a long time." Both assertions in that statement are false. She has not seriously studied the issue at all--to do so would force her to change her position. And no "ardent, practicing Catholic" has ever been, or ever will be, "pro-choice" on abortion.

3 comments:

Joyful Catholic said...

Dear Fr. Malloy! Thank you for this! I was listening to Catholic radio today and didn't hear any voice so bold as I just found here, "accidentally" coming across your blog. Bless you! We need to hear the outcry that what Nancy said on Meet the Press was complete and total heresy~ but will we? I hope we hear a statement from the Vatican, something from our Papa Benedict on this, from the woman who is 3rd in line for President of the U.S. She needs to be publicly excommunicated because she made this horrific statement on TV to how many souls? It's nothing but scandalous. When will we hear the truth LOUD and CLEAR from our pulpits on the 1st of the 5 NON negotiables? I hope EWTN comes out with a statement and it should happen SOON! Thank you for being a bold and faithful shepherd.

Anonymous said...

For what it's worth, just the other day, even Rush Limbaugh took Ms.Pelosi to task for her heretical pro-abortion statements on Meet The Press which were couched in terms of the CHURCH not knowing when life begins.

I have studued Catholic history for many years myself and as I see it, Ms. Pelosi and her ilk embody the old Catholic aphorism:

"All heresy begins below the belt."

This aphorism is based on an old theological principle mentioned on more than one occasion by the late Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen:

"If you don't act the way you think, soon you begin to think the way you act."

Anonymous said...

The catholic church that professes a teaching of superstition and myth that is culminated in outright lies is no athority on any thing much less abortion.They are the king of con-artists and not to be believed on any subject.