This back-and-forth is starting to look like the U.S. Open.

After being strongly criticized for her remarks on television Sunday, the Speaker of the House has now fired off a response.

I’m not sure it’s cleared the net:

“The Speaker is the mother of five children and seven grandchildren and fully appreciates the sanctity of family. She was raised in a devout Catholic family who often disagreed with her pro-choice views.

“After she was elected to Congress, and the choice issue became more public as she would have to vote on it, she studied the matter more closely. Her views on when life begins were informed by the views of Saint Augustine, who said: ‘…the law does not provide that the act [abortion] pertains to homicide, for there cannot yet be said to be a live soul in a body that lacks sensation…’ (Saint Augustine, On Exodus 21.22)

“While Catholic teaching is clear that life begins at conception, many Catholics do not ascribe to that view. The Speaker agrees with the Church that we should reduce the number of abortions. She believes that can be done by making family planning more available, as well as by increasing the number of comprehensive age-appropriate sex education and caring adoption programs.

“The Speaker has a long, proud record of working with the Catholic Church on many issues, including alleviating poverty and promoting social justice and peace.”

This is not, to put it diplomatically, an act of contrition. And it seems to indicate Congresswoman Pelosi does not believe that life begins at conception.

Let’s see what the bishops do with this.

Meantime, a grateful h/t to Rocco.

UPDATE: There’s some very interesting reaction to the Pelosi statement at this link. And a group of Catholic Republicans is now taking her to task and demanding a correction. Yeah, good luck with that.