February 2009

President Obama is really working hard to ensure that he has the most militantly pro-abortion administration in history. Power Line notes

Early on, we were alarmed by President Obama’s selection of the radical Dawn Johnsen to head the Department of Justice’s Office of Legal Counsel. We have also wondered (based on the reporting of the Wasington Post’s Barton Gellman) about Johnsen’s candor.

Today Johnsen’s radicalism and her lack of candor were both on display before the Senate Judiciary Committee. The issue was Johnsen’s position on the relevance of the Thirteenth Amendment to the abortion issue.

Here is what Johnsen once wrote in a brief to the Supreme Court:

Statutes that curtail [a woman’s] abortion choice are disturbingly suggestive of involuntary servitude, prohibited by the Thirteenth Amendment, in that forced pregnancy requires a woman to provide continuous physical service to the fetus in order to further the state’s asserted interest.

Here is Johnsen’s testimony today about that brief:

I made no Thirteenth Amendment argument. I can state categorically I do not believe the Thirteenth Amendment is relevant at all.

Senator Specter, who is pro-abortion, told Johnsen that he did not understand her answer. He was being polite. Although Johnsen’s brief did not argue that restrictions on access to abortions violate the Thirteenth Amendment, it did argue by analogy from that amendment. It is therefore disingenuous for her to deny haveing made a Thirteenth Amendment argument.

Moreover, at the time she filed the brief in question (20 years ago) Johnsen certainly thought the Thirteenth Amendment was relevant; otherwise she would not have cited it. Perhaps she now “categoricaly” believes otherwise. If so, she should admit that she made a Thirteenth Amendment argument, say that she has changed her mind, and attempt to explain why.

Johnsen should also explain whether she stands by this appalling language that also appears in her brief:

The woman] is constantly aware for nine months that her body is not wholly her own: the state has conscripted her body for its own ends. Thus, abortion restrictions “reduce pregnant women to no more than fetal containers.

Johnsen’s appointment is consistent with the emerging (and entirely predictable) trend of the Obama administration — appoint non-radical liberals and a few centrists to cabinet leve positions, and then populate key sub-cabinet jobs with radicals

If she was being considered for a post in the Injustice Department she would be perfect. By the way don’t forget to get a card for Fetal Container Day. Mother is just so passe. If you are really brave and willing to risk death call a pregnant mother a “fetal container” to her face.

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) — White House officials have acknowledged that abortion and the controversy surrounding embattled late-term abortion practitioner George Tiller are holding up President Barack Obama’s potential selection of Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius to become the next Health Secretary.

As LifeNews.com previously reported, White House aides told the New York Times last week that Obama had settled on naming the pro-abortion governor as his top health official.

Following the news, pro-life groups launched an all-out blitz to highlight Sebelius’ extreme pro-abortion views and her cozy relationship with Tiller, one of the few to do abortions so late in pregnancy.

Yesterday, a district court judge dismissed an effort by Tiller’s attorneys to throw out charges the state attorney general has filed against him for allegedly doing illegal abortions.

Now, White House officials tell CBN News that abortion and the Tiller-Sebelius connection are causing pause when considering Sebelius for the Cabinet post.

CBN News White House correspondent David Brody indicates that a senior Obama administration official confirmed that “concerns voiced by pro-life groups about potential HHS Secretary Nominee Kathleen Sebelius have come up in high level White House discussions but it has not disqualified her from the job. [reference]

It is interesting that she might be running into difficulties because of this considering that the the President’s voting record on abortion is even more extreme. President Obama’s actual voting record support infanticide to protect any imaginable infringement on abortion. I do wonder why Gov. Sebelius was even considered in the first place? Considering that Sen Dashle was the first appointment I wonder is there a pro-abortion Catholic Democrat quota for Secretary of Health and Human Services? I haven’t said anything before about the mention of Gov. Sevelius for this job. I had wondered if the Obama administration would be so stupid as to pick someone who has been told by her bishop not to go to Communion? Looks like they were, but are thinking twice now.

In other Killer Tiller news.

ichita, KS (LifeNews.com) — A decision by a local judge means Kansas-based late-term abortion practitioner George Tiller will stand trial for charges that he did illegal abortions. Tiller has been accused of violating state law requiring a second, independent, physician to sign off on his late-term abortions.

Tiller was slapped with 19 criminal charges for failing to follow the law and using a fellow abortion practitioner with whom he has a financial relationship to claim the abortions were medically necessary.

Sedgwick County District Court Judge Clark Owens released a decision Wednesday dismissing a request from Tiller attorneys that the evidence in the case be suppressed because of claims that it was improperly obtained.

Judge Owens addressed all the concerns Tiller’s attorneys brought up over six days of testimony, including claims that former Attorney General Phill Kline acted in a way that should allow the case to be dismissed.

Owens’ ruling exonerated Kline and allows the trial to move ahead.[reference]

Denver, Colo., Feb 20, 2009 / 06:39 am (CNA).- In a startling defense of legal abortion supporter Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, Catholics United has attacked Archbishop Joseph Naumann of Kansas City, accusing him being more interested in trying to score political points against the governor than in crafting effective abortion policy within the reality of politics.

The salvo from Catholics United comes as advisors to President Obama have told the press that he has decided on Sebelius as his next secretary of Health and Human Services nominee.

Kathleen Sebelius, who professes to be Catholic, has a problematic record on abortion.
Although Catholics United mentions the Kansas governor’s “tireless support for children’s health care and education, and her efforts to provide public financing for adoption and pregnancy support centers,” the group fails to mention her 30 years of simultaneously advocating to keep abortion legal.

In the Spring of 2008, Archbishop Naumann met with Gov. Sebelius to ensure that she understood the gravity of her position. After meeting with her, Archbishop Naumann asked her to stop receiving Communion.

As Archbishop Naumann explained to CNA, he requested that Gov. Sebelius stop receiving Communion because of her “30-year history of advocating and acting in support of legalized abortion.”

The Thursday statement by Catholics United, which is mostly dedicated to rebuffing the president of the Catholic League, Bill Donohue, marks the first time that the organization has targeted a specific Catholic bishop by name.

“Like Kansas City Archbishop Joseph Naumann – who often seems more interested in scoring political points against Gov. Sebelius than crafting effective abortion policy within the reality of politics – Mr. Donohue is doing a disservice to those Americans who will benefit from Gov. Sebelius’s leadership as Health and Human Services Secretary.” article

Catholics United is not a front group for the Democratic Party. They are a front group for Moloch.