Is a fetus a human life? Pelosi dodges.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on Thursday dodged a question from a reporter about whether a fetus is a human life.

"If it's not a human being, what do you believe is it?" a reporter asked Pelosi as thousands of people rallied outside for the March for Life demonstration. Pelosi answered by saying it's up to women to decide if they want an abortion or not, but didn't answer the question directly.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on Thursday refused to answer whether a fetus is a human life.
Image: Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call,Inc.

"The fact is, it's what we have said," Pelosi said. "The life and the health of the mother is what is pre-eminent when a decision is made about a woman's reproductive health."

"It isn't an ideological fight, it's a personal health issue," she added.

While Pelosi didn't answer the question directly, she did claim superior knowledge about the issue as a mother of five children.

"As a mother of five, in six years, I have great standing on this issue, a great understanding of it, more than my colleagues," she said.

Pelosi noted that during an abortion debate several years ago, a Republican stood up and said, "Nancy Pelosi thinks she knows more about having babies than the Pope."

"Yeah," she said today. "Yeah. That would be true."