Nancy Pelosi mocks pro-lifers, claims they believe life begins at 'candlelight dinner the night before'

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi cruelly mocked Republicans and pro-life Americans on Wednesday for believing that life begins at conception.

Despite being a Catholic, Pelosi claimed at her weekly press conference that pro-life Republicans believe life begins "at the candlelight dinner the night before."

The California Democrat was responding to Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham's new bill that would institute a national ban on abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy. Republicans have not been outwardly supportive of the bill for several reasons, including the sensitivity of the issue ahead of the midterm elections and because many Republicans truly believe abortion is an issue for states to decide.

Pelosi said the fractured response is evidence of "conflict" in the Republican Party.

"I think what you're seeing there is a conflict within the Republican Party. There are those in the party that think life begins at the candlelight dinner the night before," she said to laughter.

"And these people are in defiance of that, right?" Pelosi continued. "They're in defiance of that, because they're saying whatever they're saying about it. So that's what you're seeing there. But we are united in our support for women's right to choose."

LIVE: Pelosi Holds Weekly Briefing | NBC Newsyoutu.be

Pelosi's abortion advocacy reached a fever pitch earlier this year when it became clear the Supreme Court was going to overturn Roe v. Wade.

Just last month, for example, Pelosi declared that restricting abortion access is "sinful."

Because she is an ardent abortion advocate, San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone announced in May that Pelosi can no longer receive Holy Communion in his diocese.

"Unfortunately, Speaker Pelosi’s position on abortion has become only more extreme over the years, especially in the last few months," Cordileone wrote in a letter.

"After numerous attempts to speak with her to help her understand the grave evil she is perpetrating, the scandal she is causing, and the danger to her own soul she is risking, I have determined that the point has come in which I must make a public declaration that she is not to be admitted to Holy Communion unless and until she publicly repudiate her support for abortion 'rights' and confess and receive absolution for her cooperation in this evil in the sacrament of Penance," he explained.

The Catholic Church considers abortion a grave sin.

"Human life must be respected and protected absolutely from the moment of conception," the catechism of the Catholic church explains.