San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone slammed House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s "hypocrisy" for claiming she is a devout Catholic who supports abortion.
Asked during a press conference on Thursday why Democrats have declined to allow a vote on a bill that would block taxpayer-funded abortions, Pelosi said access to abortion is a health issue for many American women, “especially those in lower-income situations and in different states, and it is something that has been a priority for many of us a long time.”
“As a devout Catholic and mother of five in six years, I feel that God blessed my husband and me with our beautiful family the five children in six years, almost to the day. But it’s not up to me to dictate that that’s what other people should do. And it’s an issue of fairness and justice for poor women in our country,” Pelosi said.
Cordileone responded to Pelosi's statement by saying: “Let me repeat: no one can claim to be a devout Catholic and condone the killing of innocent human life, let alone have the government pay for it. The right to life is a fundamental — the most fundamental — human right, and Catholics do not oppose fundamental human rights.”
Cordileone, the archbishop of Pelosi’s home diocese, added:
“To use the smokescreen of abortion as an issue of health and fairness to poor women is the epitome of hypocrisy: what about the health of the baby being killed? What about giving poor women real choice, so they are supported in choosing life? This would give them fairness and equality to women of means, who can afford to bring a child into the world.
“It is people of faith who run pro-life crisis pregnancy clinics; they are the only ones who provide poor women life-giving alternatives to having their babies killed in their wombs. I cannot be prouder of my fellow Catholics who are so prominent in providing this vital service. To them I say: you are the ones worthy to call yourselves ‘devout Catholics!' ”
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