For all of the outcry from anti-abortion activists about Kathleen Sebelius’ insufficient support for abortion restrictions and the opposition that was supposed to endanger her nomination to head up HHS, the abortion issue was virtually absent from her Senate confirmation hearings. Tom Coburn asked her about the possibility that RU-486 will be reclassified as “emergency contraception,” which would exempt it from the Hyde Act prohibition against government funding of abortion. But that was it.
It no doubt helped the Kansas governor that she was accompanied and supported by Republicans Bob Dole and Pat Roberts, and that Sam Brownback–whose anti-abortion credentials are never questioned–publicly backed her nomination as well. She also probably helped offset some of the criticism earlier this week when she signed a Kansas bill that gives women the option of viewing a sonogram before having an abortion. And, of course, there’s the fact that senators were a little more occupied with probing her views on how to reform the health care system.
But this week’s non-episode is also a useful reminder that just because the Catholic League or Randall Terry or the Cardinal Newman Society get upset doesn’t mean that “Catholics” in general oppose Sebelius. Or Obama speaking at Notre Dame. It just means they’re good at firing off press releases, and that journalists are overly fond of the “Catholics versus Democrats” storyline.