Sen. Judd Gregg Withdraws From Obama Cabinet, Saves Pro-Life Senate Vote

National   |   Steven Ertelt   |   Feb 12, 2009   |   9:00AM   |   WASHINGTON, DC

Sen. Judd Gregg Withdraws From Obama Cabinet, Saves Pro-Life Senate Vote

by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
February 12
, 2009

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) — Senator Judd Gregg of New Hampshire has withdrawn his name from consideration for the Commerce Secretary post. The move is good news for pro-life advocates who worried about losing another pro-life vote in the Senate when every vote is needed to stop President Barack Obama’s pro-abortion agenda.

Some pro-life advocates accused Obama of playing politics with the Gregg nomination because he knew it would remove a strong pro-life vote from the Senate.

Gregg said he would only accept the nomination if he could have an assurance that a Republican would be appointed by pro-abortion Democratic Gov. John Lynch to keep his seat with the GOP.

Lynch picked Republican Bonnie Newman to replace Gregg upon his confirmation, but Newman takes a pro-abortion position and would have cost the pro-life side another vote on key provisions.

Gregg said on Thursday that he couldn’t continue on with the confirmation process for the Cabinet post because he disagrees too strongly with Obama’s economic plans.

"It has become apparent during this process that this will not work for me as I have found that on issues such as the stimulus package and the Census there are irresolvable conflicts for me," Gregg said about quitting the nomination process.

"Obviously the President requires a team that is fully supportive of all his initiatives," he said.

As a result of his decision, ""I will continue to represent the people of New Hampshire in the United States Senate," Gregg said.

To illustrate the importance of Gregg’s vote, the Senate voted last month in an attempt to reverse the decision Obama made to rescind the Mexico City Policy. Obama issued an executive order to restore taxpayer funding to groups that promote and perform abortions in other nations.

The Senate defeated the amendment to bring back the pro-life policy on a 60-37 vote, with Gregg voting in the pro-life minority. With Newman in place, abortion advocates would have been closer to a 2-1 advantage.

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