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Thread: Kathleen Sebelius on abortion

  1. #1
    Oliphaunt
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    Default Kathleen Sebelius on abortion

    Much controversy is brewing over the president's designation of Kansas governor Kathleen Sebelius for Secretary of Health and Human Services. She will head the FDA, the CDC, and the NIH to name a few. But in addition, President Obama has indicated that the HHS secretary will help to develop a universal health plan.

    Critics say that her stance on abortion — particularly third term abortion — makes her unfit to develop such a plan or, for that matter, to oversee health related agencies. The reasoning is that she will push her own agenda at the expense of those who oppose abortion.

    But my research shows that Sebelius actually personally opposes abortion herself, and that the much ballyhooed legislation she vetoed was considered by most legal experts to be unconstitutional.

    I have to wonder how she was painted with the reputation she has. Maybe it was some sort of Rovian smear tactic that still lingers. Does anyone here know or have an opinion? I'm really hopeful this won't slide into a debate about abortion. It should be a discussion of Kathleen Sebelius and how her views became so distorted.

  2. #2
    Elephant
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    Default Re: Kathleen Sebelius on abortion

    I don't think it's Rovian smear tactics as much as it is "If you're not with us, you're against us." Most right-to-lifers I know aren't happy with a compromise solution. They want abortion outlawed, period; the more moderate will accept abortion to save the life or health of the mother. If the politician in question shows the least bit of inclination not to ban abortion, they're a target for the anti-abortion side. ISTM that Sebelius is truly pro-choice; whatever her personal feelings are on abortion, she wants to keep it as a legal option for women. It should also be noted that Kansas has recorded a 12.6% drop in the number of abortions between 2001-07, as opposed to a 7.6% drop nationally between 2000-05.

    What follows is Sebelius' veto statement for the anti-abortion bill you referenced.

    Veto Message for House Substitute for Senate Bill 389

    Over the last several years, we have worked on lowering abortion rates in Kansas by focusing on adoption incentives, extended health services for pregnant women, providing sex education and offering a variety of support services for families.

    Those efforts are having a positive impact; recently we learned that the abortion rate in Kansas continues to go down.

    For years, the people of Kansas have asked their elected officials to move beyond legislative debates on issues like abortion and focus their attention on issues that can be solved in the Statehouse - stronger schools, affordable health care and economic growth.

    Kansans are proud of the progress we’ve made lowering the abortion rate and lifting our economy. It's time for legislators to recognize that progress and focus on the things that continue to move us forward.

    I am concerned about a number of provisions in SB 389. The United States Supreme Court decisions make clear that any law regulating abortion must contain exceptions for pregnancies which endanger the woman’s life or health. However, SB 389 allows a variety of individuals to seek a court order preventing a woman from obtaining an abortion, even where it may be necessary to save her life. I am concerned that the bill is likely unconstitutional or even worse, endangers the lives of women.

    The bill contains unprecedented expansions of legal proceedings which would likely encourage extensive litigation and also unnecessarily jeopardizes the privacy of Kansas women’s confidential medical records.

    As Governor, nothing is more important to me than the safety, health and privacy rights of our citizens. I am vetoing SB 389 because it endangers the health of women and is likely to be found in violation the United States Constitution and the Constitution of the State of Kansas.

    Therefore, pursuant to Article 2, Section 14 of the Constitution of the State of Kansas, I veto House Substitute for Senate Bill 389.
    (From this site)

    I know you're not looking for an abortion debate, but this issue serves as two very good lessons on the nature of politics. One is the problem of the single-issue or "values" voter. It doesn't matter if the candidate is Attila the Hun. As long as the candidate voices the right position on whatever issue the voter cares about, he's got the vote. The rest of the world can go to hell.

    The other lesson is how to frame a debate. The right-to-lifers have framed abortion as being about health care, which is disingenuous when you consider that, if abortion is outlawed, women seeking abortion would be forced back to back-alley abortionists and the risk of dying from hemorrhage or infection; doctors who perform them would risk the loss of their license to practice medicine, and they and their families would be at risk for harassment, if not actual attempted or actual murder. (To be fair, they've also framed it as being about morality, but that's not the case with Gov. Sebelius.)
    There is more than one way to burn a book. And the world is full of people running about with lit matches. -- Ray Bradbury's "Coda"

  3. #3
    Banned
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    Default Re: Kathleen Sebelius on abortion

    Um, was the OP here meant seriously? It's hard to even treat this as a serious question.

  4. #4
    Head Heathen Katriona's avatar
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    Default Re: Kathleen Sebelius on abortion

    The other thing that keeps coming up is how "cozy" she allegedly is to George Tiller, an abortion provider from Wichita KS, who was a target during the "Summer of Mercy" campaign in 1991. The real story is that he won a dinner with her at some fund-raising thing, but the pictures of them at the dinner keep surfacing as proof that she's in his pay or some such nonsense.

    Wiki on Tiller:

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Tiller

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