Sebeluis, the Group of 26, and Orwell's America

David Hollenbach, S.J. and the other signatories offering support for Sebelius, including my friend Richard Gaillardetz, are astute, as Michael P. suggests.  That makes them all the more culpable for their complicity in the moral evil of furthering the pro-abortion rights mentality.  It is one thing to find proportionate (non-abortion related) reasons to vote for a pro-abortion rights presidential candidate.  It is quite another to attempt to sell a pro-abortion rights Catholic to the public as an excellent choice for HHS.  And, it is even worse to do so by attempting to paint Sebelius as a pro-life governor.

Is this Orwell's America where doublethink rules the day?  Sebelius calls herself pro-life but says she “disagree[s] with the suggestion that criminalizing women and their doctors is an effective means of achieving the goal of reducing the number of abortions in our nation.”  But, her actions betray her.  The Americans United For Life Blog lists Sebelius’ many accomplishments as state legislator and governor in protecting abortionists from even modest regulation, accountability, and oversight.  Not only is she against criminalizing abortion, she seems to be against any law that would regulate the abortion industry.  Signing a bill to fund support services for pregnant women can’t turn an extreme pro-abortion rights advocate into a pro-lifer, and the 26 astute Catholics who have put their credentials behind her nomination know this.

Being astute, the Group of 26, along with Sebelius herself, appears to be engaged deliberately in an Orwellian exercise of doublethink or doublespeak.  In 1984, the word “peace” meant “war,” the word “love” meant “hate,” and the word “freedom” meant “slavery.”  And, now this Group of 26 astute and respected Catholics is trying to turn an extreme pro abortion rights proponent into a pro-lifer so that when we hear the word “pro-life” it means “pro-abortion rights.”

During the campaign season, I withheld - and still withhold - judgment on those who chose a different path from mine in the voting booth.  But now, with respect to these 26, the cards have been laid clearly on the table.  By their actions, this Group of 26 appears (at least to this astute observer) to want to transform the pro-life movement into a pro-abortion rights movement, and they seem willing to go to great lengths to achieve this goal, including misrepresenting (by material omission) Sebelius’s record and by accusing her opponents of demagoguery.