Pro-lifers Pleased at Daschle Withdrawal

Daschle opposed the partial-birth abortion ban and endorsed taxpayer-funded military abortions and morning-after pills in public schools.

WASHINGTON (LifeSiteNews.com) - Pro-life advocates are breathing a sigh of relief after Tom Daschle, a veteran pro-abortion defender in the U.S. Senate, has withdrawn his bid as Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary after it was revealed he had failed to pay over $100,000 in taxes.

The latest in a string of nomination blunders in the Obama administration, Daschle stepped down after news of back taxes surrounding underreported consulting fees, charitable contributions, and some assets. Questions were also floated concerning a potential conflict of interests related to speaking fees he accepted from health care interests, and the fact that Daschle advised health insurers and hospitals at a law firm after leaving the Senate.

Obama initially opted to keep Daschle in the running amid the controversy, but later accepted his resignation as Obama strove to recuperate the image of a more ethical, lobbyist-free administration.

Daschle, the former Democratic Senate majority leader and a self-proclaimed Catholic, earned an extremely liberal reputation on abortion by such actions as opposing the partial-birth abortion ban and endorsing taxpayer-funded military abortions and morning-after pills in public schools.

Family Research Council President Tony Perkins, who strongly opposed the nomination from the beginning, expressed joy that the staunch abortion defender was no longer set to become the highest authority on federal health policy.

"Such a candidate, given his willful avoidance of the law and his anti-family record while in the Senate, is not the right person to be pushing forward U.S. health policy," said Perkins in a press release. "While a U.S. Senator, Tom Daschle voted again and again for unrestricted abortion and to involve the U.S. taxpayer evermore deeply in the funding of abortion and Planned Parenthood-style programs that promote sexual activity and contraception to minors.

"The American people expect and deserve more from their leaders in Washington, who are eager to pass laws they enforce on others but all too often ignore for themselves. The American people deserve a health care system that protects the unborn, respects conscience rights, and gives families - not bureaucrats - the ability to choose what is and isn't covered.

"President Obama's next nominee for HHS should be chosen with more care than this last one," Perkins concluded.

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