Before Gov. Sebelius became Secretary of Health and Human Services which was an acknowledged proponent of women’s reproductive rights. She was Catholic. And she was attacked. It was also somewhat predicted that the clash of politics and religion would indeed get in the way at some point during the Presidency of Barack Obama.
When Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius this week vetoed another in the seemingly unending series of restrictive abortion bills her state’s Legislature churns out, it guaranteed that her confirmation as secretary of Health and Human Services would become a battleground in the increasingly nasty campaign being waged against officeholders who are both Catholic and Democratic….
….In 2006, Sebelius said: “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.” The governor contends that other approaches, particularly adoption incentives and better public health programs, are more effective, and she frequently notes that the number of abortions in Kansas has declined 10% during her six years in office. (here)
When she was selected as HHS Sect., it was noted by the Archbishop that it was not just her but a whole host of other pro-life Catholics now in Washington…
Archbishop Naumann said normally he would rejoice at a Catholic having such a prestigious position, but not in this case. “Now she is joining Vice President [Joseph] Biden, [House] Speaker [Nancy] Pelosi and a whole raft of others in the Senate and Congress, which I think are sending very confusing messages,” he told CatholicAction.org. (here)
In other words, when you have prominent members of the President’s leadership team who have been both pro-choice and served communion, even in front of the Pope, it is difficult to gauge such a reaction. Further, many Catholic-led/run institutions do provide birth control, such as Georgetown University.
I’m not saying it’s right. I’m just saying that before you blame the non-Catholic President for this… look at his advisors.
Related articles
- Sebelius Disrespects Catholicism (deaconjohnspace.wordpress.com)
- Sebelius Disrespects Catholicism (deaconforlife.blogspot.com)
- Anonymous White House sources: Sebelius led fight for contraception edict, while VP Biden warned Obama about backlash from Catholic voters… (bloomberg.com)
- A Primer On the HHS Rule: What You Need to Know (regnumnovum.com)
- Gerson: Obama’s Catholic strategy in shambles: Sebelius at war with Catholic beliefs (goerie.com)
Joel Landon Watts is a Masters of Theological Studies student with a focus in Mimetic Criticism of the Gospel of Mark. His interests include exploring the role of mimesis in human civilization, specifically in the study of religion and media, as well as science fiction and the way in which it has allowed mythology to be explored in light of scientific ideals of the past century. Currently, he is a TA for Old Testament at United Theological Seminary under Dr. Vivian Johnson, Associate Professor of Old Testament. His first book, Rhetorical Strategies of the Evangelist: Mimetic Criticism of the Gospel of Mark, is expected to be published by Wipf and Stock early next year. He is currently co-editing a book on moving from Fear to Faith (Energion, 2013).
