A joint campaign of more than 60 national and state pro-life leaders is urging the Senate to reject President Joe Biden’s choice for Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) secretary, Xavier Becerra.
The coalition sent a letter to the ranking members of the Senate committees overseeing health and finance, asserting that Becerra, currently attorney general of California, is “an enemy to every pro-life policy and law.”
The pro-life coalition stated Becerra “has demonstrated complete disregard for the religious and moral convictions of those opposed to the brutal act of abortion,” and added his “radical record in public office as California’s Attorney General and member of Congress leads our organizations to ask you to reject Mr. Becerra’s nomination.”
The leaders listed some of the ways in which Becerra attacked pro-life Americans, including:
- Attacking conscience protections
- Leading the charge fighting against defunding Planned Parenthood of its Title X Family Planning funds
- Taking the Little Sisters of the Poor and other groups to court to force them violate their religious liberty protections
- Arguing against Weldon Amendment and in favor of forcing healthcare entities to provide and pay for abortions
- Targeting pro-life pregnancy centers and pro-life journalists
- Exploiting the coronavirus pandemic to expand abortion by fighting to lift federal health restrictions on drug-induced abortions
- When a member of Congress, voting against the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act, and the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act
“Mr. Becerra’s confirmation would be divisive and a step in the wrong direction,” the letter concluded, adding Becerra “has proven himself to be an enemy of the health of women and the unborn.”
Former Trump administration HHS Office for Civil Rights Director Roger Severino told Breitbart News in a recent interview Biden is “retreating from the rule of law” with his multitude of executive orders, “and compounding the error with some extraordinarily divisive nominations to cabinet positions, starting with Xavier Becerra for HHS.”
“I can’t imagine a more divisive pick for such an important agency during a pandemic,” said Severino, who is now a senior fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, where he will direct its HHS Accountability Project.
“His background is not health care, it’s not epidemiology,” he continued about Becerra. “It just doesn’t make sense to put such a divisive figure as the head of the largest agency by budget that touches so many lives, if the president wants to foster unity. It’s exactly the wrong thing.”
Susan B. Anthony List President Marjorie Dannenfelser said Becerra “has been portrayed as moderate, but he is infamous among pro-lifers for his decades-long record as a vocal pro-abortion advocate.”
“In Congress and as attorney general of California, Becerra not only joined pro-abortion efforts – he led them,” she added. “President Biden could not have picked a more eager pro-abortion activist to head HHS and we urge senators to reject his nomination.”
National Director of Priests for Life Father Frank Pavone said in a statement sent to Breitbart News HHS “is key to the nation’s pro-life policies.”
Pavone said under former President Donald Trump, HHS staff “has been a who’s-who of pro-life advocates. Now that is threatened.”
“Mr. Becerra has proven himself to be an enemy of the health of women and the unborn,” Pavone asserted. “He cannot be entrusted with our national health programs and policies and is not qualified to serve as Secretary of Health and Human Services.”
This campaign follows a December letter where 40 pro-life leaders urged the Senate to vote “no” on Becerra.