Joe Biden has reportedly chosen California Attorney General Xavier Becerra to be his HHS Secretary. And the news has alarmed the pro-life community.
The Susan B. Anthony List, one of the most notable groups in the fight for life, immediately reacted to the report to warn pro-lifers that Becerra is "aggressively pro-abortion." The California AG has charged David Daleiden, the Center for Medical Progress reporter who exposed the Planned Parenthood baby parts scandal a few summers ago, on several counts. Daleiden fired back with a lawsuit alleging that Becerra, and former California AG Kamala Harris, violated his First and Fourteenth Amendment rights.
"Far from 'uniting' the country, Biden has proven yet again he is an extremist on abortion," said SBA List President Marjorie Dannenfelser. "Becerra is aggressively pro-abortion and a foe of free speech. As attorney general of California, he continued what his predecessor Kamala Harris started by persecuting citizen journalists who exposed Planned Parenthood’s role in baby parts trafficking. Not only that, he went all the way to the Supreme Court to try to force California’s pro-life pregnancy centers to advertise and refer for abortion – a policy the Court rejected as unconstitutional. In Congress, he even voted in favor of partial-birth abortion."
"This pick underscores the importance of winning in Georgia to prevent pro-abortion forces from taking control of the U.S. Senate. Republican senators must stand firm and stop this unacceptable nomination from going forward."
Meanwhile the leaders of pro-abortion organizations like NARAL, who apparently now refer to the procedure as "reproductive freedom," are jubilant.
Huge! @XavierBecerra at HHS will recenter science and facts in guiding public policy. He's compassionate, committed to reproductive freedom and to health care as a human right. Trump's HHS was the home of some of the Administration's worst horrors. A new era has begun indeed. https://t.co/qlfn4E0RE2
— ilyseh (@ilyseh) December 6, 2020
As others have noted, Becerra has also supported the radical Medicare for All measure.
BREAKING: Biden's HHS pick backed Medicare for All & pressed Obama to take action against pharmaceutical companies - now he will be in a position to grant states Medicare for All waivers and to take that action against Big Pharma that he said he supports https://t.co/ZN2m3UqWl1
— David Sirota (@davidsirota) December 7, 2020
Pro-life senators have already warned Biden that they'll be voting "no."
Xavier Becerra spent his career attacking pro-life Americans and tried to force crisis pregnancy centers to advertise abortions.
— Tom Cotton (@SenTomCotton) December 7, 2020
He’s been a disaster in California and he is unqualified to lead HHS.
I’ll be voting no, and Becerra should be rejected by the Senate. https://t.co/mEvpMrqPeH