63 Pro-Life Leaders: HHS Nominee Becerra is an ‘Enemy of the Health of Women and the Unborn’

By Emma Riley | February 26, 2021 | 12:56pm EST

 

 

 

Xavier Becerra appears before the Senate Finance Committee hearing on his nomination to be secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, on February 24, 2021. (Photo: MICHAEL REYNOLDS/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

(CNS News) -- In a letter to senators overseeing the confirmation hearings of Xavier Becerra, President Biden’s nominee to run the Health and Human Services Department, 63 pro-life leaders urged the lawmakers to reject Becerra, stating he is “an enemy to every pro-life policy and law, and has demonstrated complete disregard for the religious and moral convictions of those opposed to the brutal act of abortion.”

Becerra, 63, currently is the attorney general of California, serving under Gov. Gavin Newsom. He served in Congress from 1993 to 2017. Becerra is not a medical doctor; he holds a law degree from Stanford University.

Becerra’s “pro-abortion track record extends back to his earliest years in public office,” reads the letter.  “While a member of Congress, he voted against pro-life priorities such as the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act, and the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act.”

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“Becerra even voted against common sense legislation to prohibit partial-birth abortion and the Unborn Victims of Violence Act, which made it a crime to harm or kill an unborn child during the commission of a violent crime – 38 states including California currently have similar protections.”

“We are also concerned about Mr. Becerra’s abuse of his statewide office to target pro-life health centers and journalists,” reads the letter.  “Taking pregnancy centers to court to enforce California’s so-called Reproductive FACT Act, Mr. Becerra futilely sought to force government-compelled speech on pro-life individuals who refused to direct women to abortion centers.”

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“Furthermore, he sought to intimidate and prosecute investigative journalists David Daleiden and Sandra Merritt after their reporting uncovered the unethical and likely illegal sale of aborted baby body parts by Planned Parenthood,” states the letter. “Mr. Becerra sought 15 felony charges for recording 14 videos against these journalists, a move that the Los Angeles Times Editorial Board called ‘a disturbing overreach.’”

“Mr. Becerra’s confirmation would be divisive and a step in the wrong direction,” concludes the letter. “We understand that the president needs to assemble a cabinet; however, Mr. Becerra has proven himself to be an enemy of the health of women and the unborn. He cannot be entrusted with our national health programs and policies and is not qualified to serve as Secretary of Health and Human Services.”

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Some of the letter-signers include Susan B. Anthony List President Marjorie Dannenfelser,

March For Life Action President Tom McClusky, National Right to Life Committee President Carol Tobias, Live Action President Lila Rose, and Priests for Life National Director Fr. Frank Pavone.

To read the letter, click here.

https://www.cnsnews.com/article/washington/emma-riley/63-pro-life-leaders-hhs-nominee-becerra-enemy-health-women-and-unborn