Q. Is Governor Sebelius really Catholic?
A. Raised in a strong, religious family and educated in the Catholic school system for seventeen years, Governor Sebelius is a woman of deep Catholic faith, a faith that informs her work as a public servant. Governor Sebelius is committed to building the common good and enacting policies that establish a consistent ethic of life in respect of the dignity of all human life. Governor Sebelius’ record of improving schools, expanding low-income housing, reforming immigration laws, increasing the affordability and accessibility of health care and significantly reducing the abortion rate demonstrate her commitment to living out the Church’s call to building a more just society, particularly for those who are most vulnerable.
In the United States there is no religious test for public office, but some far right groups are claiming that Governor Sebelius is not Catholic enough to be secretary of Health and Human Services. Since her earliest forays into public service, Governor Sebelius has demonstrated civility and a new kind of politics that both earned her the respect and collaboration of Republican allies and delivered results for the citizens of Kansas. Catholics should reject the tactics of those who would use Governor Sebelius’s faith to attack her and reject such partisan use of our religion as partisan and unwelcome in our Christian community.
Q. Does Governor Sebelius support abortion?
A. Governor Sebelius has made clear that she agrees with church teaching that abortion is wrong and has lived and acted according to that belief. She believes that the best way to bring real change to the polarized abortion debate in this country is not to criminalize women and their doctors, but to focus on real, comprehensive results based approaches that can actually reduce the number of abortions.
In fact, Governor Sebelius’s policies of expanding access to health care, increasing funding and tax credits to encourage adoption, and funding “Life Support Centers” to connect expecting mothers with support services throughout their pregnancies led to an 18% decrease in abortions during her time as governor.
Q. Did abortions rise in Kansas during her time as governor?
A. No. Despite false attacks based on manipulated statistics to the contrary, Governor Sebelius was enormously successful in reducing the number of abortions in her state during her two terms.
When Governor Sebelius entered office in 2002 11,844 abortions were reported in Kansas. By 2007, that number dropped by more than 1,000 to 10,836, an 8.5% decrease. The drop was even more significant for Kansas residents who benefited from Governor Sebelius’s pro-family policies such as expanded health care coverage, increased funding for education and expanded adoption tax credits, have netted a full 18.5% drop in the number of abortions procured by Kansans.[Kansas Department of Health and Environment, Center for Health and Environmental Statistics, Abortions in Kansas, 2002 and 2007]
Q. Does Governor Sebelius support late-term abortions?
A. Like President Obama, Governor Sebelius supports restrictions on late-term abortions. In 1992 as a State Representative she voted for a bill that banned late-term abortions and required adult accompaniment of minors seeking abortion counseling and parental notification.[HB 2778, 3/2/92; House Journal, Page 1480-1483]
Governor Sebelius vetoed a controversial bill dealing with late-term abortions only because it was unconstitutional and would have cost the State of Kansas untold amounts in unnecessary legal fees.
Q. Does Governor Sebelius support Dr. Tiller?
A. Governor Sebelius has not taken financial contributions from Dr. Tiller or his office since for many years. She passed the law under which he is currently being investigated and appointed the Attorney General who is prosecuting the case.
Q. Why should pro-life Catholics support Governor Sebelius?
We as Catholics are tired of politicians exploiting the passion and energy of pro-life Americans to win elections but failing to make any significant change once in office. Pro-life Catholics should see Governor Sebelius’s nomination as signal of an important change in the conversation and an invitation to build common ground on abortion issues. As a Catholic committed to reducing abortions, Governor Sebelius will be able to bridge both sides of this important issue and find a third way past the entrenched, divisive politics that have held our societal discourse hostage for the last twenty-five years and prevented Americans from coming together to find any real solutions.
During her time in Kansas, Governor Sebelius offered proven solutions and policies that will have a real effect on this important moral issue. Among other actions, Governor Sebelius:
• Signed the Pregnancy Maintenance Initiative Program, a bill to provide funding to programs that give pregnant women alternatives to abortion;
• Signed Alexa’s Law, to deal with certain crimes against unborn children, defined as meaning a fetus at any state of gestation from fertilization to birth. As a result, if a pregnant woman was murdered, the offender could be charged with the murder of the unborn child as well;
• Signed a law doubling the adoption tax credit and oversaw an expansion of adoption support spending in Kansas from $17,566,288 in 2003 to a projected $23,279,623 in 2008; and
• Oversaw a decline in teen pregnancies between 2002 and 2007.
In addition, Governor Sebelius believes in promoting a consistent ethic of life, a philosophy that has influenced her policy decisions throughout her two terms as governor. Governor Sebelius’s positions and record on health care, poverty, education, immigration, and the death penalty amongst many others point to her value as a Catholic leader who will work to build the Kingdom of God for all people.