Sebelius’ "Omission" of Money From Abortion Practitioner Called Intentional
by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
April 20, 2009
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) — When she failed to disclose to a Senate committee voting on her nomination for Health Secretary tomorrow that she received tens of thousands of dollars from an abortion practitioner, Kathleen Sebelius called it an "oversight." Now, one pro-life group says that can’t be true.
Sebelius wrongly claimed she received three times less money from late-term abortion practitioner George Tiller than she originally told Congress.
"There was an oversight in the initial answer provided to the committee," HHS spokesman Nick Papas told the Associated Press last week in response.
But, now Kansans for Life says Sebelius should have known the full information because it was presented to her in the local diocesan newspaper, to which she subscribes, that featured a huge photo of her and a front-page story on her connection with Tiller.
The $26,000 Governor Kathleen Sebelius omitted from her answer to Senator Kyle about Tiller’s donations to her or her PAC, was not only a matter of public record, it was in her mailbox a week before her confirmation hearings, KFL tells LifeNews.com.
The Leaven is published by the Catholic Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas, which includes the state capitol city of Topeka. It is mailed to every Catholic household each week, usually arriving on Friday.
The March 27th issue contained an article on page 4 entitled "Tiller campaign cash greases political wheels" that read: "For instance, between 1994 and 2001 Tiller, his wife, his clinic, and an earlier PAC of his gave more than $15,000 to Sebelius. Between 2000 and 2002, Tiller and his clinic gave $23,000 to Sebelius’ Blue Stem Fund PAC."
Mary Kay Culp, the director of Kansans for Life, responded, "It is almost impossible to believe Sebelius didn’t see this particular issue, featuring as it did a huge picture of George Tiller on the cover and a smaller picture of her holding a T-shirt memorializing his support of her last election, and featuring four related articles."
"It’s simply not believable that staff or acquaintances did not tell Sebelius of the publication. More likely, Sebelius thought she could successfully minimize her Tiller connection, as she had done during her first gubernatorial campaign in 2002," Culp told LifeNews.com.
Culp also says Tiller and Sebelius have connections that Sebelius wasn’t required to disclose to the Senate but should have in the interest of full disclosure.
"From 2002 to 2004, Tiller gave $120,000 to the national Democratic Governor’s Association which funneled most of the money back into Kansas in 2005 and 2006," she said. "While not illegal, this scheme allowed the public to continue to be deceived about Tiller’s relationship with Sebelius."
"The U.S. Senate owes the public a closer and more careful examination of the nomination of Kathleen Sebelius to head America’s Health and Human Services Department, especially given that literally volumes of impeccably researched and non-disputed information is easily available," Culp concluded.
The Senate Finance Committee has scheduled a vote on the nomination of the Kansas governor for Tuesday.
Sebelius is expected to win confirmation from the committee and to have her nomination sent to the full Senate for consideration.
During the hearings, members of the panel were criticized for asking very few questions of Sebelius on abortion despite her extensive pro-abortion record vetoing numerous pro-life bills and her close ties to late-term abortion practitioner George Tiller.
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