Opposition to Sebellius growing; vote delayed

from Operation Rescue
- Opposition to the nomination of Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius as Secretary of Health and Human Services continues to grow as the Senate is flooded with calls, faxes, and e-mails from grassroots campaigns led by an increasing number of conservative, pro-family groups.
This opposition exploded when Operation Rescue made public, and the Associated Press reported the fact that Sebelius had grossly underreported to the Senate Finance Committee the amount of financial support she had received from controversial late-term abortionist George Tiller.
"We have been urging our supporters to call, e-mail, and fax their Senators, and I know several other national groups have been doing the same. It is our understanding that thousands and thousands of people have been voicing their concerns that Gov. Sebelius' extreme views on abortion, and her lack of candor about them, make her unfit to head the Department of Health and Human Services," said Operation Rescue President Troy Newman.
After a surprisingly split vote in the Finance Committee on Tuesday, Sebelius' vote in the full Senate has been delayed, and may not occur before Wednesday of next week.
Just prior to this week's committee vote, Sen. Jon Kyl blasted Sebelius for her support of "comparative effectiveness," which means that costs of treatment are considered above the interests of the patient. A "comparative effectiveness" policy would mean that patients who need ceertain treatments could be denied them in order to save money. Sen. Kyl expressed concern over Sebelius' "lack of commitment" to patient safeguards.
"The offensive policy of selecting who lives and who dies using a financial equation is a logical offshoot of Sebelius' extreme views on abortion, and demonstrates an overall lack of concern for human life," said Newman. "She supports aborting healthy babies in the latest stages of pregnancy, so it isn't much of a leap for her to decide that some people are not deserving of certain medical treatments that could save their lives. This is really a Mengle-esque approach to health care with far-reaching implications, and further illustrates why she is unfit for the job at HHS."
More information is available on our Sebelius Fact Page.