Earlier this month, after five stormy years, U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius resigned or, as some have speculated, was forced out of office by political and public pressure. Before her controversial, high visibility role in implementing the most far-reaching overhaul of the healthcare industry in America, she was the Governor of Kansas from 2003 to 2009 and the state’s Insurance Commissioner for five years before ascending to the highest political office in the state. Her stellar popularity in the Democratic Party positioned her as one of the serious contenders for the Vice Presidency during John Kerry’s (2004) and Barack Obama’s (2008) presidential campaigns. As Governor, Kathleen Sebelius, a baptized Catholic, formed alliances with notorious abortionists and participated in shameless undertakings contrary to her faith and her oath as Governor:

• Wichita, Kansas became the late term abortion capitol of the United States on Governor Sebelius’ watch
• Late term abortionist George Tiller, his wife, and his political action committee contributed over $1.85 million to Sebelius’s campaigns and other political races to advance the cause of legal abortion in Kansas. Sebelius lied and downplayed her cozy relationship with Tiller during her Secretary of HHS confirmation hearings before the Senate. (Tiller was gunned down and killed in 2009)
• In 2006 she held a press conference to publicly discredit her local bishop’s statements against abortion. Archbishop Joseph Naumann, after repeated attempts to correct her actions as a public official, advised her in 2008 against receiving Holy Communion after her obstinate refusal to abide by her faith’s moral teachings on abortion. She continued to receive Communion after the Archbishop’s sanction.
• As Governor, Sebelius worked tirelessly to obstruct Kansas Attorney General Phill Kline’s investigations of state abortion facilities, thereby protecting the abortion industry in Kansas despite widespread evidence of unlawful abortion practices and criminal activities endangering the lives and health of women including minors as well as the failure of Planned Parenthood, the largest abortion provider in the U.S., to report child rape. (For details, go to: http://operationrescue.org/pdfs/Annotated%20SRS-KDHE%20Timeline.pdf)
• Sebelius and members of her administration were never charged or called to account for the destruction of evidence, especially original documents submitted by Attorney General Kline during his investigation of abortion facilities. Sebelius and Tiller worked arm in arm to defeat (Catholic) Attorney General Phill Kline’s re-election in 2006.It appears Kathleen Sebelius was handpicked by President Obama for her cabinet position because she was a zealous champion of abortion rights and a dependable ally of Planned Parenthood and other abortion providers, a leader who would stand up to the “religious right” including her own Catholic bishop. She was confirmed in 2009, the same year “ObamaCare” was passed in the U.S. Congress.

Lies and Disinformation by President Obama and Kathleen Sebelius

President Obama told Pope Francis and Vatican officials during a meeting in March that “[m]ost religious organizations are entirely exempt” and those not exempt need only “attest that they have a religious objection” and they are “not required to provide contraception, but in their case “employees of theirs who choose are able to obtain it through the insurance company.” According to Richard Doerflinger, an official with the Pro-Life Office of the U.S. Bishops, most religious organizations are not exempt. 47 lawsuits are currently in the courts because religious orders and faith-based non-profits are not exempt. The mandate means compulsory coverage for sterilization and all FDA-approved contraceptives which are mostly abortifacients. Whether any plan member buys the products and services or not, premiums paid for these drugs and appliances are provided to other members of the health care plan, making all members complicit in promoting evil and unhealthy practices. (For more details about coverage for abortifacients in the HHS mandate, please go to: http://www.usccb.org/issues-and-action/human-life-and-dignity/contraception/upload/Does-the-HHS-Mandate-Include-Abortifacients.pdf)

ObamaCare is Planned Parenthood’s Greatest Triumph

After the implementation of ObamaCare, parents end up delegating to Planned Parenthood and their nefarious allies in the abortion industry all authority over their children’s care in sexual matters. Minors will have free access to dangerous abortifacient drugs and the “education and counseling” to promote their use. Confidentiality rules will hide disclosure of an immature adolescent’s sexual behavior from her parents. Welcome to the hellish elements of Planned Parenthood morality advancing the “culture of death”, destroying the religious freedom of every family in America, whether you like it or not. The plan of government population controllers aligned with the ObamaCare plan seek to sterilize and render childless American women, not by offering personal choice but through deceptive coercion. As we have seen here in San Antonio with the recent City Council vote to publicly fund “long-active reversible contraceptives” (LARCs), the method and goal is to implant and inject LARCs which do not require any further action by the recipient while removal or reversal can only be done through the intervention of a doctor. So much for “choice”. Yes, there will be fewer pregnancies but many will be effectively sterilized. (For further details, visit: http://www.usccb.org/about/pro-life-activities/life-issues-forum/womens-freedom-redefined.cfm)

In an official statement published on January 20, 2012, Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, speaking for her department, wrote: “Women will not have to forego these services because of expensive co-pays or deductibles, or because an insurance plan doesn’t include contraceptive services.” This statement is absurd and blatantly disingenuous because Sebelius is well aware that women before ObamaCare have had the freedom to procure low cost contraceptives from their neighborhood drugstores. “Emergency contraception” is widely available over the counter, even to minors. The ObamaCare mandate is really about coercing corporate America, bringing the full weight of federal power down on employers and health care providers to force the public to pay for free access to contraceptives which are mostly abortifacient-inducing drugs with well-known detrimental health effects. The main beneficiaries are contraceptive and abortion peddling for-profit corporations like Planned Parenthood and pharmaceuticals.

Another troublesome aspect of Sebelius’ worldview as the powerful Secretary of the federal department of Health and Human Services concerns family life, child rearing, and “early learning”. The current Obama administration budget for HHS included $15 billion over 10 years to fund an HHS program called the “Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting Program”. AN HHS document explains that government nurses, social workers, and other professionals would be sent into homes to improve “parenting skills”. Beyond the $75 billion over 10 years earmarked in the federal budget for “universal education” for four-year olds, Sebelius explained a year ago at a press conference that the president’s plan is “really a -birth-to-five proposal, recognizing that you can’t start at four years olds”.

Conclusion

The departure of Kathleen Sibelius as the key implementer of the ObamaCare mandate, overseer of the government take-over of the health industry in America, and zealous advocate for abortion rights and the abortion industry  is a welcome change.

We all should pray that as a baptized Catholic, Kathleen Sebelius will reflect on her obstinate refusal and blindness in ignoring the evil which she has directly promoted and advanced as a public official. Truly our Lord’s eternal admonishment comes to mind: “For what will it profit a man, if he gains the whole world and forfeits his life?” (Mt.16:26)

Holy Scripture reminds us: “Do not fret because of the wicked; do not envy those who do evil: for they wither quickly like grass and fade like the green of the fields.” (Ps. 37)

In his April 11th audience, Pope Francis thanked Italian Pro-Life leaders, reminding them that “[w]e know human life is sacred and inviolable. Every civil law is based on the recognition of the first and fundamental right, that to life, which is not subject to any conditions, neither economic nor qualitative nor ideological.”

Our second President, Thomas Jefferson, reflected that “[t]he care of human life and happiness and not their destruction is the first and only legitimate object of good government.” We pray all public officials especially those informed by their Catholic faith will take this maxim to heart.

Part II: Who is Kathleen Sebelius’ successor? HHS secretary nominee Sylvia Mathews Burwell

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