NRL News
202.626.8824
dadandrusk@aol.com

Partial-birth abortion and HHS Secretary Becerra’s track record of evasive answers

Apr 7, 2022

By Dave Andrusko

You have to hand it to HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra. He can go on and on and say less and less than just about any human being on Planet Earth.

Especially about abortion. Secretary Becerra has a track record a mile long of abortion advocacy. As NRLC has explained, Becerra poses a triple threat—to unborn babies, their public policy defenders, such as National Right to Life, and the Pregnancy Help Movement. That in a nutshell is his resume.

Yesterday Becerra appeared before the House Committee on Education and Labor to discuss the policy priorities of his department, according to Fox News’s Anders Hagstrom. Rep. Jim Banks, R-Indiana asked him the same “simple question” over and over again: “Do you concede that partial-birth abortion, as defined in 18 U.S. code, section 1531, is illegal and punishable by fine, imprisonment or both?”

As he has done on numerous questions, Becerra bobbed and weaved. “Congressman, I’ll try to respond to this as best I can,” Becerra began. “And that’s to say that having been a former attorney general, I know how important it is to not only follow the law, but enforce it. As secretary of HHS I will not only comply with the law, but enforce it, and when it comes to issues that sometimes we hold different and sometimes very deeply held beliefs I will respect where people’s opinion is, but my job is to make sure I’m enforcing the law.”

Okay, but “Do you concede that partial birth abortion is illegal per the law?” Banks pressed. According to Hagstrom, Becerra said

“Under the Supreme Court decision in Roe vs. Wade, women have reproductive rights that they are entitled to enforce and that they are entitled to have the government respect. I will do everything I can to make sure a woman’s rights and reproductive care are defended,” Becerra responded.

“So I take that as no, you don’t concede that that is the law,” Banks stated.

“I gave you the answer,” Becerra said.

Becerra has a track record of denying that partial-birth abortions took place or even that they exist. As a member of Congress, Secretary Becerra voted against passage of the 2003 Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act. The law passed and was found to be constitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2007.

Last year he had the following exchange with Rep, Bilirakis:

Rep. Bilirakis: Do you agree that partial-birth abortion is illegal, sir?

Sec. Becerra: Congressman, thank you for the question and, here, as I said in response to some of those questions during my confirmation hearing, we will continue to make sure we follow the law. Again, with due respect, there is no medical term like partial-birth abortion and so I would probably have to ask you what you mean by that– to describe what is allowed by the law.

Sec. Becerra: Which law are we talking about, sir?

Rep. Bilirakis: The law concerning partial-birth abortion.

Sec. Becerra: Well, again, as I said, there is no law that deals specifically with the term partial-birth abortion…

Under additional questioning by Rep. Crenshaw, Sec. Becerra continued to evade. However, under questioning by Rep. Joyce, Becerra again asserted that the term partial-birth abortion was not a medical term and added:

Sec. Becerra: My question is not so much with the term partial-birth abortion, [it] is with what the rights are of the woman…

Sec. Becerra: I will make sure we are providing women with the protections they need on their reproductive rights.

And so it goes with our ultra-evasive Secretary of Health and Human Services.

Categories: Abortion
Tags: