Reparations, he said, "can mean a whole bunch of different things. You can come up with policies that take into account what slavery meant then, what it means now."

"The work I do as a Catholic holding office conforms to the social doctrine as best I can make of it."

The one-hour appearance by Cecile Richards, president of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, had created an uproar.

Two plaintiffs appealed the case in the court of public opinion and hinted that a political solution might be their ultimate redress.