Politics

Pelosi On Abortion: The Mother Comes First

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Rachel Stoltzfoos Staff Reporter
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Asked whether she believes an unborn child is human at 20 weeks, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said it’s not up to politicians to decide how a woman handles her health.

“I don’t think it’s up to politicians to do that,” Pelosi said in a briefing Thursday. “And that’s why we are very overwhelmingly opposing what is going on in the House.”

House Republicans had planned to pass a late-term abortion ban Thursday to coincide with the annual March For Life, but scrapped the bill at the last minute for a bill that would ban federal funding for abortions. A group of moderate members objected to the original bill’s rule that only reported cases of rape and incest could be used to get an exception from the 20-week abortion ban.  (RELATED: House GOP Nixes Planned Vote On Anti-Abortion Bill They Passed In 2013)

“This is not a success for women and their reproductive health,” Pelosi said about the second bill.

Pressed again about her personal view on when a child becomes human, Pelosi said a woman’s life and health come first.

“You know it’s really interesting that you would come to these meetings to talk about [abortion],” she told the reporter. “The fact is what we have said. The life and the health of a mother is what is preeminent when a decision is made about a woman’s reproductive health.”

“It isn’t an ideological fight,” she added. “It’s a personal health issue. This is up to women — their conscience, their god their doctor, their health, their fate, survival.”

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