Sebelius Reinvigorating Debate Over Catholic Church's Attempts To 'Dictate Officeholders' Actions,' Opinion Piece Says

Main Category: Abortion
Article Date: 29 Apr 2009 - 6:00 PDT

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Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius' (D) veto of the latest measure (S.B. 218) in "an unending series of restrictive abortion bills" in the state "guaranteed" that her confirmation as HHS secretary "would become a battleground in the increasingly nasty campaign being waged against officeholders who are both Catholic and Democratic," Los Angeles Times columnist Tim Rutten writes in an opinion piece. Rutten notes that Kansas City Archbishop Joseph Naumann, after Sebelius vetoed another antiabortion-rights measure earlier this year, "forbade" the governor from receiving Communion unless she changes her views.

Republicans will continue to "make as much out of this confirmation as possible," as conservatives have been working "for years to pry Catholic voters out of the Democratic Party," Rutten says. He adds that for conservatives, "the Holy Grail of political advantage is a long-sought clerical edict that would prohibit any Catholic officeholder who ever has cast a pro-choice vote from receiving Communion." According to Rutten, conservatives would like to extend this edict to any Catholic who has voted for a candidate who supports abortion rights, thus forcing Catholic Democrats to "choose between their party and their church." According to Rutten, "most bishops ... have avoided such an either/or moment." However, "time is gradually changing the character of the American Catholic hierarchy," and "a new, more brittle and ultramontane group of bishops appears willing to elevate the abortion issue over all others." Rutten continues that the new archbishop of Washington, D.C., Donald Wuerl, and Arlington, Va., Bishop Paul Loverde "have said they expect Sebelius to obey her local bishop's order if she moves into their sees." Rutten concludes that Wuerl and Loverde "might want to consider where they'll find themselves if even their own co-religionists come to believe they're in the business of dictating officeholders' actions rather than forming consciences" (Rutten, Los Angeles Times, 4/25).

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