Senate Panel Approves Obama’s Pro-Abortion EEOC Nominee, Chai Feldblum

National   |   Steven Ertelt   |   Dec 13, 2009   |   9:00AM   |   WASHINGTON, DC

Senate Panel Approves Obama’s Pro-Abortion EEOC Nominee, Chai Feldblum

by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
December 13
, 2009

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) — On Thursday, the Senate HELP Committee approved the nomination from President Barack Obama of a pro-abortion activist to serve on the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Senators met in a secretive closed-session meeting without the normal opportunity for media coverage and oversight.

The panel met in executive session that was held off the Senate floor in between votes, instead of in its normal committee meeting room.

In a press statement about the ad hoc meeting, pro-abortion committee chairman Sen. Tom Harkin, an Iowa Democrat, said the closed meeting was held "to accommodate members’ schedules."

The nomination of pro-abortion Georgetown University law professor Chai Feldblum to serve on the EEOC now heads to the full Senate and, if confirmed Feldblum would serve on the EEOC for five years and could decide cases that related to pressuring women employees to have abortions or pressuring pro-life advocates to allow abortions in insurance policies.

Feldblum isn’t known by most Americans, but she worked for the pro-abortion Human Rights Campaign Fund and, from 1986-1987 and has been a legislative counsel for the pro-abortion ACLU.

She also clerked for Supreme Court Justice Harry A. Blackmun, the infamous judge who handed down the Roe v. Wade decision that has allowed more than 51 million abortions.
Harkin did not release the vote tally on the nominations, and Feldblum’s nomination was reportedly included with a slate of other nominees who were voted on a group.

Noting her pro-abortion position, several pro-life groups, including Focus on the Family, the Traditional Values Coalition, the Liberty Counsel, and the American Family Association, signed onto a December 8 letter to the committee saying they ”strongly oppose” Feldblum’s nomination.

Concerned Women for America, on its web site, says Feldblum ”represents one of the most serious threats to religious freedom we have seen in a long time" and the Traditional Values Coalition urged its members to call Senate Committee members to oppose the nomination.

Candi Cushman, an analyst for Focus on the Family, says Feldblum is outside the mainstream of American views.

"Through these recent appointments, President Obama is pandering to activists," she said. "The president nominated Georgetown law professor Chai Feldblum to serve on a commission that enforces the nation’s federal employment laws. This is disturbing."

Patrick Reilly of the Cardinal Newman Society said he is also concerned.

"The news of Feldblum’s nomination is especially noteworthy for Catholics given the EEOC’s recent infringement on Catholic Belmont Abbey College’s religious liberty by claiming it discriminated against women when it removed contraceptive coverage from its employee health insurance plan," he said. "If confirmed by the Senate, Feldblum would serve on the EEOC for five years and could decide cases related to abortion."

The EEOC ruled that Belmont Abbey College must provide the coverage, even though it violates Catholic teachings.

David Brody, a columnist for CBN News, says the Senate confirmation battle over the Feldblum nomination could get tenuous.

"This potential fight over Feldblum could give pause to conservative moderates and Democrats (Catholics) who voted for President Obama," he says. "Will the GOP fight him on this? Stay tuned."

Feldblum has been criticized for praising Blackmun to the New York Times as someone who had the “ability and desire to look behind the law and see the people."

"He brings a sense of caring and compassion that will be missed," she said after his retirement.

Traditional Values Committee director Andrea Lafferty is also opposed to the abortion advocate.

“Once again, President Obama has demonstrated there is no one too radical to serve in his administration,” she said. “By picking Feldblum, he has signaled to his many fringe group fans on the Left that he will help them accomplish all of their goals."

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