Can We Really See the Spark of the Divine in Political Opponents?

N ancy Pelosi, the former speaker of the House, recently talked about faith and justice at Georgetown University. She recalled her Catholic upbringing and how she was raised to see that everyone has the spark of the Divine within him. It was a few days after Judge Kyle Duncan listened to Stanford Law students heckle him, saying that they hoped that his daughters would be raped, simply because the protesters disagreed with his Catholic beliefs. An assistant dean at the school insisted that Duncan’s mere presence was causing “harm” to students. The assistant dean was suspended after that, and both the president of Stanford and the dean of the law school apologized to Duncan. If Pelosi is serious, perhaps she could help lead a national intervention, starting with those law students who can’t fathom conversation and debate.

The problem is, I’m not sure the former speaker is serious. Not in such a way that we could honestly try to hash out what is means to live Catholic social teaching in the world today. If she were, she would not dismiss her bishop for his concerns about her support for not just legal abortion but its expansion. What do we owe the unborn? Yes — what do we owe women? — but what about their children? Repeatedly during the Georgetown event, Pelosi cited her advocacy for children. I honestly would like to meet her there. Imagine if we could come together to help children who need forever families. What if we could actually help single mothers who want to raise their children but are facing every kind of pressure to abort their child? But Pelosi is derisive toward anyone who talks about abortion, using her credential as a mother and grandmother as her bludgeon.

In the nine months since Roe v. Wade was overturned by the Supreme Court — by justices whose lives were in danger simply because of their differing beliefs — I’ve been rereading what Pope John Paul II wrote about human life. There is this beautiful paragraph where he addresses women who have had abortions:

I would now like to say a special word to women who have had an abortion. The Church is aware of the many factors that may have influenced your decision, and she does not doubt that in many cases it was a painful and even shattering decision. The wound in your heart may not yet have healed. Certainly, what happened was and remains terribly wrong. But do not give in to discouragement and do not lose hope. Try rather to understand what happened and face it honestly.

He continues: “If you have not already done so, give yourselves over with humility and trust to repentance. The Father of mercies is ready to give you his forgiveness and his peace in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. To the same Father and his mercy you can with sure hope entrust your child.”

He said that some of the most powerful leaders in helping women heal after abortions are women who have been there themselves. This is the mercy that the pro-life movement is about. It’s not just about prohibitions. It’s about life and hope and love.

Now that Roe has been overturned, there are states where unborn life is being protected, and some women have expressed relief that pressure is off them to abort. I believe that Nancy Pelosi reads Scripture and wants to live the Beatitudes. I do, too. And I know I do so extremely imperfectly. Life after the Dobbs, the decision that overturned Roe, should give us the freedom to rethink our abortion politics.

As I write, CVS isn’t planning on obeying state laws when it comes to dispensing abortion pills. Maybe that national intervention has to do with the mere fact of abortion pills at drugstores? That’s not privacy and compassion for women. That’s not women’s rights or freedom or health care. It’s cruelty. A few years back, the movie Unplanned was shown in theaters. It’s the true story of Abby Johnson, who was the director of a Planned Parenthood in Texas and wound up becoming a pro-life activist. That movie had an R rating because of a scene involving an abortion in the privacy of a home. That abortion is the polar opposite of humane — for the dead baby and for her mother.

Judge Duncan simply has different views from those of some law students at Stanford. Views worth considering and debating. If Nancy Pelosi is serious about seeing the spark of the Divine in others, in her retirement as speaker she could lead something different from anything we see in the public square today. She and her family have sacrificed and suffered. She does have street cred. Now she could take her Catholic faith and challenge us to see one another with dignity, even when we disagree with one another.

My takeaway from Stanford and Georgetown is that we are not serious about pluralism. At the same time, both events can be opportunities — catalysts for doing something different. Duncan and Pelosi are both people of faith — both Catholics. Maybe they can lead our intervention. It’s worth a prayer. And a much-needed one.

This column is based on one available through Andrews McMeel Universal’s Newspaper Enterprise Association.