Beginnings: when do people begin?

Anthony Fisher

doi:10.1017/CBO9780511841866.009

Chapter 4 - Beginnings: when do people begin?

from PART II - Beginning of life

Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 June 2012

Anthony Fisher

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Anthony Fisher: Affiliation:
University of Notre Dame, Sydney

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An influential book

In 2008 Nancy Pelosi, then Speaker of the US House of Representatives, was asked on Meet the Press about the status of the human embryo. She declared:

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 … Saint Augustine said at three months. We don’t know. The point is, is that it shouldn’t have an impact on a woman’s right to choose … 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.

Pelosi’s stance drew immediate fire from several US bishops and ultimately the Pope. But her belief that when life begins is unknown and probably unknowable, but that it likely begins well after conception, has been reflected in her own political life. Pelosi has voted in favour of human cloning, human embryo research, US funding of abortion abroad and against every attempt to restrict abortion, even the bill to ban partial-birth abortions. Where might this ‘ardent’ Catholic have found support for her thought that life begins well after conception?

Type: Chapter
Information: Catholic Bioethics for a New Millennium , pp. 101 - 130

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511841866.009 [Opens in a new window]

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Print publication year: 2011

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Chapter 4 - Beginnings: when do people begin?

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