Washington, DC – Kathleen Sebelius was sworn in yesterday as the new head of the Department of Health and Human Services after seven weeks of delay, hours of contentious debate in the Senate, and a narrow vote.
“We must remember that even though we did not block Sebelius’ confirmation, we started out this process with essentially no opposition to her. She was a shoe-in that was expected to quickly sail through the confirmation process,” said OR President Troy Newman. “I remember praying that we could get just one senator to vote against her at the committee level, and even that seemed like a daunting task. In the end 31 senators voted against her. She needed 60 votes to be confirmed, and she only got 65. We were successful at making her nomination all about abortion, especially late-term abortions that are opposed by 88% of the public. We were also able to expose Sebelius’ friend and benefactor, late-term abortionist George Tiller, on a national level.
“Because of this, Sebelius has become damaged political goods,” said Newman. “She is going into one of the most important positions in our government with a radical agenda, but with clipped wings that could impede her ability to implement that agenda. That alone is a small victory for us.”