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Pelosi Defends Beginning of Life Comments, More Bishops Warn against Them
Fargo, North Dakota, Aug 27, 2008 (CNA).- Bishop Samuel Aquila of Fargo, North Dakota has joined several other U.S. Catholic bishops in refuting Nancy Pelosi’s recent comments that confuse the Church’s teachings about when life begins and abortion. Rep. Pelosi, meanwhile, said through her spokesman that she stands by her comments.

This past Sunday in an appearance on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Nancy Pelosi told Tom Brokaw that "Doctors of the Church" have not been able to define when life begins and that because St. Augustine said life begins at three months, the viability of a child at that stage “shouldn't have an impact on the woman's right to choose.”

Bishop Aquila did not refute Pelosi at length since he said that the statement issued by Archbishop Charles Chaput of Denver was "excellent" and he didn’t need to add to it.

However, the bishop did offer his take on the Speaker of the House’s comments saying, “People of good will who have studied the present day Catholic teaching as given in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, John Paul II's Encyclical, The Gospel of Life, and have read the fathers of the Church, can easily recognize the flaws in her remarks on the teaching of the Church concerning when human life begins. The right to life from conception is the pre-eminent social justice and human right’s issue of our time. MORE
 

Demorcatic National Convention: Sen. Casey Makes Passing Reference to Abortion, Democrats Avoid Issue
Denver, Aug 27, 2008 (CNA).- Sixteen years after his father was denied a place on the podium of the Democratic National Convention, pro-life Sen. Bob Casey of Pennsylvania addressed delegates in Boston, and, in an address on the economy, referred to his opposition to abortion—the very position the elder Casey says got him barred from speaking in 1992.

“I’m proud to stand before you as Governor Casey’s son,” Casey began his remarks, immediately evoking the tension between the Democratic Party’s leadership and it’s pro-life minority.

In the summer of 1992, Pennsylvania Governor Robert Casey had his name in the headlines, as he was at the losing end of Planned Parenthood v. Casey, the decision that upheld most of Roe and instituted the “undue burden,” test for restrictions on abortion. As a Democratic governor of a swing state, he expected and requested a speaking slot at that summer’s convention, but he was turned down. Casey said it was because of his pro-life views. Operatives for Bill Clinton say it was because Casey would not campaign for Clinton. MORE