Catholic News Agency
Jan 26, 2009
Pelosi attempts to justify funding for contraception in economic stimulus package
Washington DC (CNA). – House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) in a Sunday interview tried to justify the inclusion of hundreds of millions of dollars in funding for contraceptives in the $825 billion economic stimulus package by claiming family planning services “reduce cost.”
Speaker Pelosi made her comments in an appearance on ABC’s This Week with host George Stephanopoulos. Stephanopoulos asked how the expansion of “family planning services” could be considered an economic stimulus. The Speaker replied:
“Well, the family planning services reduce cost. They reduce cost. The states are in terrible fiscal budget crises now and part of what we do for children’s health, education and some of those elements are to help the states meet their financial needs. One of those – one of the initiatives you mentioned, the contraception, will reduce costs to the states and to the federal government.”
Stephanopoulos responded, “So no apologies for that?” “No apologies. No,” Speaker Pelosi replied.
“We have to deal with the consequences of the downturn in our economy.”
Speaker Pelosi is a self-described Catholic.