Kathleen Sebelius: Her pro-life bonafides are non-existent

The Faux Catholic press corp, also known as Catholics United, is already at work trying to shape the coverage of the nomination of Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius as the new head of Health & Human Services (HHS) in Washington, D.C.

A blog at U.S. News & World Report today runs puff piece excerpts of Sebelius praising her "pro-life" bonafides, the material furnished to him, he acknowledges, by Catholics United, a heretical group that denies the teachings and authority of the Church it pretends to represent. He quotes this:

My Catholic faith teaches me that all life is sacred, and personally I believe abortion is wrong. However, I disagree with the suggestion that criminalizing women and their doctors is an effective means of achieving the goal of reducing the number of abortions in our nation.

There is another way. By working in support of the common good we can better protect human life and the dignity of all people.

Sebelius claims that she's worked to curtail abortions. The truth is that she's done nothing to oppose them and much to protect those who are in the abortion business, like her personal and political pal George Tiller, aka Tiller the Killer, a Wichita, Ks., based abortionist who specializes in late term baby killing.

Father Frank Pavone, national director of Priests for Life (an organization that is in full compliance with Catholic teaching), had this to say of her nomination:

"It is not appropriate that an individual who supports abortion occupy this post. Abortion has nothing to do with health. There is no disease that abortion cures and there is no medical benefit to the procedure. Both Kathleen Sebelius and Barack Obama should know better."

Here's a bit of what LifeSite News had to say:

Sebelius has one of the most radical pro-abortion record of any elected official and a longstanding relationship with a late-term abortion practitioner. [SNIP]

Obama's decision to allow word of his selection to lead ot the media first on a Saturday is designed to play down news coverage of his selection of a hardcore abortion advocate to lead his health care reform efforts and to implement his pro-abortion agenda. ]SNIP]

Sebelius is most notorious for her close relationship with late-term abortion practitioner George Tiller, who has escaped prosecution and accountability thus far for allegedly repeatedly violating state abortion laws. However, a judge recently ruled charges against him from the state attorney general's office can move ahead.

He's done so in part because of the lax standards of Sebelius and her political allies, to whom Tiller has donated hundreds of thousands of dollars. Governor Sebelius vetoed a bill last April that the legislature approved that would have strengthened the state's limits on late-term abortions.

That followed by a year her veto of a bill requiring explicit medical reasons for a late abortion, which was preceded by vetoing other pro-life legislation in 2006, 2005 and 2003.

Sebelius went as far as to coordinate a secret event with Tiller at the governor's mansion that was criticized because her staff failed to officially report the event.

Her position favoring abortion is so radical and extreme that Archbishop Joseph Naumann of Kansas City called on her to stop receiving communion until she disowns her support for the "serious moral evil" of abortion.

Leading pro-life groups have unanimously blasted the potential of Sebelius serving as Health Secretary because of her longstandinging pro-abortion record.

"Sebelius is joined at the hip with the abortion industry," Troy Newman, the president of Operation Rescue, tells LifeNews.com. "She owes them her political career and has been more than willing to pay them back with personal favors that have shielded them from legislation and criminal prosecution. Her corrupt abortion politics make her unfit to serve."

I'd stop right there but there is another interesting item they included:

Sebelius attended a Planned Parenthood fundraiser on the occasion of her birthday in May, 2007 where CEO Peter Brownlie led a conga-line dance in her honor during the party.

Brownlie's clinic was later charged with 107 criminal counts of conducting illegal late-term abortions. Those charges are now pending.

Conga line? What's with all the conga lines?

Good News for Kansas, If Not for Everyone Else

In general most pro-life folks are not happy with the news, but many Kansas are cheering that Gov. Kathleen Sebelius has accepted the cabinet post of Health & Human Services (HHS) from Pres. Obama.

"Good riddance," my sister told me Saturday in Tulsa. "She's a witch."

"No, it's a word that rhymes with witch," corrected my brother-in-law.

Now neither is particularly religious in the sense that they never miss church or anything, but they've become convinced over time that Sebelius has been bad for their state. While they don't wish ill upon the nation, they're hopeful that things will improve in Kansas.

They point to a project she's repeatedly blocked that would allow a gas-fired power generation station to be built in western Kansas that would supply critically needed energy for the future. "Her opposition never made sense," my sister said. "The jobs it would provide and the taxes it would pay alone are reason enough to support it. And it's not like air quality is a big issue on the high plains."

Illogic & Worse: Vulcan Abassador Rejects Abortion

You can't "live long and prosper" if you never get the chance to live.

The actor who played Ambassador Soval of Vulcan on Star Trek Enterprise, Gary Graham, has had an epiphany, and a lot of people in Hollywood aren't going to like what he has to say about it.

... a blog column posted last Tuesday by the seasoned actor, known most recently for his roles as Ambassador Soval in the TV series "Star Trek: Enterprise" and Capt. Ingles on "J.A.G.", took an unflinching look at truths almost entirely ignored by those in the Hollywood establishment.

"I’m going to say what millions know in the front of their brains, and many, many more millions know in the depths of their hearts … but won’t allow themselves to think it, much less feel it," wrote Graham. "And believe me, I know I’ll be hated for saying it, I’ll be hated by people who don’t know me, have never worked with me, have never golfed with me, had a drink with me.

"I’m going to say it anyway: Abortion is murder."

Graham described the irresponsibility of his youth that made abortion the convenient option for a drug-fueled, “free-love” lifestyle. He confessed to having paid for multiple abortions for girlfriends, observing that abortion “sure took the pressure off of me, a guy, interested in sex who had been raised in the era of, ‘Hey, you get a girl pregnant, you marry her!’” But then, he says, a "spiritual awakening" brought him to a "tearful epiphany of what it meant for a man to be with a woman, what sex was really designed for by our Creator and … what abortion is.

"I truly wish that I had had this conviction way back when…when I was only concerned about my selfish convenience of the day," wrote Graham. "But I didn’t want to know, I didn’t want to think about it. It was inconvenient to think about it."

He noted that the widespread acceptance of abortion "says volumes of how our entire culture has been coarsened," and "How life itself has been cheapened.”

There's more.

Pro-Life, my aching HIND!

If it is not shocking enough that only SIX OUT OF 25 "CATHOLIC" SENATORS voted to stop the funding of abortions in other countries with American taxpayers dollars, one of these votes should shock us even more.

Remember when Bob Casey was elected to the Senate in '06, and he claimed he was "Pro-gun, Pro-life, Pro-Democrat?"

You had a chance to prove it, Casey. You cannot call yourself pro-life anymore. Your father would be upset.

Contraception as Stimulus? In What Parallel Dimension?

One of the many troubling aspects of the pending "stimulus" package being assembled in the House by Nancy Pelosi and her lieutenants was the inclusion of "hundreds of millions of dollars" for contraception. I have yet to see an exact number on how much money is involved, but sources on both sides are in agreement that it's a big number.

"Since when does contraception stimulate the economy?" asked Rep. John Boehner of Ohio. Similarly non-plussed was ABC's George Stephanopoulos, who asked Pelosi on Sunday's This Week program: "Hundreds of millions of dollars to expand family planning services. How is that stimulus?”

Pelosi answered, "“Well, the family planning services reduce cost. They reduce cost. The states are in terrible fiscal budget crises now and part of what we do for children’s health, education and some of those elements are to help the states meet their financial needs. One of those--one of the initiatives you mentioned, the contraception, will reduce costs to the states and to the federal government.”

“So no apologies for that?” Stephanopoulos asked.

“No apologies. No,” the speaker responded. “We have to deal with the consequences of the downturn in our economy."

Now there is word that President Obama is backing away from Pelosi on this one item, which would be a good thing if it happens.

I do not think that the advancement of abortion and contraception is a goal that showcases an enlightened, just society, and I question why taxpayer dollars should be spent on it. This is an argument, however, that we will hear more and more as the nation moves toward socialized health care.

But an even bigger question we should be asking is this: Why for so many "progressives" is the answer to any crisis the prevention and/or elimination of new human beings?

The answer may well suggest that there is an opposing spirit operating behind the scenes to help create and perpetuate the culture of death, one that sees human life as a rebuke to itself, as something to be stifled, perverted and crushed.

Goodbye, Mexico City

And on the fourth day, the One reverted to form.

President Obama has rescinded the "Mexico City policy" which bans the spending of your tax dollars to fund or promote abortions and contraceptive counseling in the rest of the world. Of course, he's not the first president to do this. Bill Clinton rescinded the same policy - which began with the pro-life Ronald Reagan - from 1993 to 2001, when George W. Bush put it back into place.

What a statement this makes about America: We want you to have fewer children and we're willing to pay for that to happen.

Most political observers believe this will be the most pro-abortion presidency yet, as Obama's political record is one of near total agreement with the abortion lobby. So today's action should come as no surprise.

There's another report that back in November, on election night, after the outcome was clear, Obama received a phone call from Pope Benedict XVI, who offered his congratulations and then discussed a few policy items.

When the Pope brought up the subject of abortion, Obama said simply: “We agree to disagree.”

If this is correct, there is an air of presumption to his reply that doesn't sit well to my ears. A coldness. I fear it may be a harbinger of things to come.

Obama Avoiding Catholic Prayer at Inauguration?

Apparently I was misled when I earlier reported that the Archbishop of Washington, D.C., would be giving an invocation at some point in Tuesday's activities. According to the National Catholic Register, there are no scheduled prayers from Catholics, just as there were none at Obama's convention in Denver.

Some believe it is only an oversight. The Register quotes Steven Waldman of Beliefnet.com as saying that it is the result of Obama's organization trying hard to balance so many competing interests (gays, environmentalists, etc.) that they forget about balancing Christian factions. The Register believes it is more sinister than this:

We suspect Obama’s omission of a Catholic participant was a whole lot more intentional than that. This year’s Democratic National Convention in Denver also notably excluded an invitation to Archbishop Charles Chaput of Denver, unlike invitations extended at previous conventions to bishops such as Cardinal Roger Mahony of Los Angeles at the DNC in 2000 held in that city.

Why the contemporary reluctance among Democrats to grant Catholic bishops a voice at functions they have organized? Perhaps it’s because they fear that virtually any Catholic bishop they invite will call the nation’s attention to the Democratic Party’s failure to respect the sanctity of life of the unborn, because of the party’s formal commitment to the promotion of abortion rights....

... it’s only reasonable to speculate that Barack Obama — who by general consensus is the most extreme pro-abortion candidate ever elected to the White House — is not eager to afford one of the Church’s American shepherds another high-profile opportunity to remind him that this obligation to respect the sanctity of the lives of unborn Americans applies very specifically to all of Obama’s actions during his upcoming presidency.

America's Secret Epidemic

Interesting article and one you won't find in the Mainstream press:

The Elliot Institute has released a report that exposes America's forced abortion epidemic. ... which are not widely discussed in the U.S. An article released from the Institute cites two cases in 2006 in which teenage girls were violently persuaded to have abortions. In Maine, a couple abducted their 19-year-old daughter, bound and gagged her, and drove her to New York for an abortion. However, she escaped from her parents in the parking lot of a store and called police from her cell phone.

That same year, a Georgia mother forced her pregnant 16-year-old daughter to drink turpentine in hopes of aborting her baby. She was later arrested for criminal abortion after her daughter told the school counselor about the incident. The Institute has studied other cases where women are commonly threatened, pressured, or subjected to violence for refusing to abort.

"There's not any necessarily real hard numbers on violent [coercion] but, if you consider that homicide is the leading killer of pregnant women according to several studies, and then the fact that a large number of them have to do with the fact that the woman was killed or assaulted...because she refused to have an abortion or in an attempt to force her to abort," Solby concludes.

My guess is that the change in political climate is going to embolden advocates of the Culture of Death so that this type of report becomes more common, not less. I hope I'm wrong.