Catholic League: Sebelius - Enemy of the Unborn - to HHS?

Sebelius' support for abortion is so far off-the-charts that she has been publicly criticized by the last three archbishops of Kansas City.

NEW YORK, N.Y. (Catholic League) - Catholic League president Bill Donohue comments on a front-page story in today's New York Times that says Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius is the president's top choice as secretary of health and human services:

"Almost all of those working in the Obama administration are pro-abortion, and the expectation is that almost all future appointees will be champions of abortion rights, as well. Fortunately, most are not in a position to affect abortion policy. One glaring exception is the secretary of health and human services. Unfortunately, Gov. Sebelius, a Catholic, may get the job.

"Sebelius' support for abortion is so far off-the-charts that she has been publicly criticized by the last three archbishops of Kansas City. In 1992, when Sebelius was a state legislator, Archbishop Ignatius Strecker rebuked her for leading what he dubbed a 'death-march of the unborn.'

"When Sebelius became governor in 2003, Archbishop James Keleher, citing her abortion record, asked her to move her inauguration interfaith service from Topeka's Assumption Catholic Church. She refused.

"The current archbishop, Joseph Naumann, called her out on the issue: he challenged her to name one instance in her long legislative career where she supported limiting abortion rights. She could not. He subsequently asked her not to go to Communion.

"None of these archbishops overreacted. Not only does Sebelius support the now outlawed practice of killing babies who are 80 percent born, so-called partial-birth abortion, she has accepted donations from one of the most notorious practitioners of this Nazi-style act--Dr. George Tiller. Moreover, she even hosted a dinner for him in the Governor's Mansion.

"Just yesterday, the pope admonished House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on this issue. Now we have the specter of another pro-abortion Catholic stiffing the Catholic Church. This is setting up a confrontation that pro-life Catholics will not walk away from.

"It is also setting up a battle between those Catholics who are honestly pro-life, and those who feign a pro-life position while always embracing the likes of Sebelius."

---

The Catholic League is the nation's largest Catholic civil rights organization. Founded in 1973 by the late Father Virgil C. Blum, S.J., the Catholic League defends the right of Catholics – lay and clergy alike – to participate in American public life without defamation or discrimination. It is led by its' President, William A. Donohue, Ph.D.