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. As I say, the Catholic Church for centuries has been discussing this, and there are those who've decided...
From transcript on MSNBC's website
I don't think I would be wrong to summarize those lines as:
Q: When does life begin?
A: It doesn't matter, It shouldn't have an impact on the woman's right to choose.
I realize that there may be disagreements on when a "human life begins". But I would think that we would respect "that life" at the point at which we believe that it became a human life. If one said, that it becomes a human life at conception, I would expect that they would hold that life sacred from that point forward. If another said that human life begins at birth, I would expect that they would hold that life sacred from that point forward. But what I hear Nancy Pelosi say is that even if we were to come to a consensus on when human life begins, a woman should be able to terminate that life. I believe that crosses the line and that we are not far from justified infanticide as a right.
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