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TechnoratiFamily Research Council said it is sitting out of "Values Action Team" meetings led by Sen. Sam Brownback over his support for HHS Secretary nominee Kathleen Sebelius, a strong advocate of abortion rights.
During a "VAT" meeting last week, an FRC representative stood and told Brownback the group would be pulling out of future meetings because of his support for Kansas Gov. Sebelius heading the U.S. Department of Human and Health Services, according to WORLD Magazine.
The weekly meetings allow pro-family groups to discuss pro-life strategies with socially conservative legislators.
Tom McClusky, senior vice president of FRC Action, the legislative action arm of the Washington D.C.-based pro-family group, said the decision was "very tough" but was one that had to be made.
“[T]he Family Research Council thought that while we try to fight against this Sebelius nomination and to bring her record to light that it would be better if we took a temporary leave of absence from the values action team," he told David Brody, the White House correspondent of the Christian Broadcasting Network.
“We will re-evaluate after the Sebelius nomination if we should go forward with the values Action Team. It’s just that right now we feel somewhat compromised in trying to use that as a vehicle to get our message across," shared McClusky.
Brownback's support for Sebelius vexed pro-life groups, many of which were hoping the Kansas pro-life senator would lead the charge to block her confirmation by the Senate to the post, reported The Brody File.
Pro-life groups oppose Sebelius as HHS secretary because of her radical abortion record and ties to a Kansas-based late-term abortion provider, George Tiller, who faces 19 charges of illegal abortions and will stand trial this month.
In an e-mail sent last Thursday, FRC Action asked supporters to urge local senators to vote against her confirmation. Sebelius has vetoed several pro-life laws, according to the e-mail, including measures that enforce parental notification laws, require those doing late-term abortions to provide an explicit medical reason, and mandate those doing post-viability abortions to report the diagnosis that led to the abortion.
FRC senior vice president Rob Schwarzwalder said Sebelius, if confirmed to the post, could bring a dramatically anti-life agenda to the HHS department.
As HHS secretary, Sebelius would oversee federal offices that regulate funding for abortion providers and authorize abortafacients such as RU-486, according to Schwarzwalder. The Kansas governor could also use her position to help repeal the Hyde Amendment, which prevents taxpayer money to go toward abortions provided to lower-income women who receive Medicaid coverage, and support family planning groups that promote abortion overseas, he said.
"What is bad for Kansas is bad for the rest of the nation," McClusky told CBN News.
Meanwhile, notable Christian leaders like Joel Hunter, Sammy Rodriguez and Brian McLaren have issued a letter supporting Sebelius, saying that under her watch abortions have decreased in Kansas by 10 percent.
In response to the FRC's withdrawal, Brownback had offered to step down from leading the VAT meetings but nobody in the room asked him to do so, according to CBN News.
Concerned Women for America President Wendy Wright said that the focus should be more on preventing Sebelius’ confirmation rather than "infighting," WORLD Magazine reported.
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