Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius is hitting some roadblocks in her confirmation as Secretary of Health and Human Services.
If an editorial cartoonist were to depict those roadblocks, they'd be big boulders etched with the letters G-O-P. The Boston Globe explains why Republican National Committee chairman Michael Steele wants the Sebelius nomination withdrawn and accuses her of withholding information about her relationship to a Kansas abortion doctor.
Sebelius says she's personally against abortion but her track record in Kansas shows she's vetoed legislation that places greater restrictions on abortion clinics. Not that this is against the law or anything, since abortion has been legal for over three decades.
The previous administration spent eight years relentlessly chipping away at reproductive rights, even down to its final days. The prospect of installing a Secretary who has built a political career on improving the lives of women and children -- instead of being the White House hatchet man -- has conservatives running scared.
The FDA just dropped the age of behind-the-counter sales of Plan B (the "morning after" emergency contraceptive pill) from 18 to 17. And Sebelius will most likely be confirmed, although GOP shenanigans are pushing the final vote off until next week at the earliest, according to the Globe.
These are just two indications of the beginning of a truly kinder, gentler administration that cares about women even more than it cares about their votes.
Photo © Win McNamee/Getty Images
What kind of a Health Secretary will Sebelius be? See:
12 Facts About Kathleen Sebelius
More on reproductive issues and the Obama administration:
Plan B Morning After Pill Will Soon Be Available to 17 Year Olds
Obama's First Pro-Choice Act as President
More on Obama's choice of female nominees:
And Sebelius Makes Six - Obama Appoints More Women to Cabinet Than Any Other Incoming President
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Comments
It seems some of the GOP folks didn’t get or didn’t read the memo about the mood of We the People. Even the Republican pundits are saying they ought to put a sock in it.
thanks to the swine flu, this controversy has been pushed way below the fold and looks like she will pass without a sniffle.