House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said Tuesday the Democratic Party doesn’t have litmus tests for its congressional candidates — though she made it clear that if Democrats flip control of the House, they will fight for abortion rights.

Mrs. Pelosi told the student at the Georgetown Institute of Politics that Democrats will support pro-life Democrats over a pro-life Republicans in order to increase their chances of taking over the lower chamber and that she takes “heat” for that.

“We will have a pro-choice gavel when we win the Congress,” Mrs. Pelosi said. “We need to have at least 218 votes to achieve that. So this isn’t a pragmatic decision. It is just a respectful decision.”

“I am a rabid supporter of a woman’s right to choose,” the California Democrat said.

Mrs. Pelosi said Mr. Trump has benefited from the support of evangelical Christians and Catholics who are pro-life and do not support gay marriage and want him to appoint conservative judges.

“Having said no litmus test, it is a very high priority for us to protect a woman’s right to choose,” she said. “We are pretty much all there except maybe a handful of people.”

Sign up for Daily Newsletters Manage Newsletters

Copyright © 2020 The Washington Times, LLC. Click here for reprint permission.