FRC calls out Senate confirmation of abortion activist to head largest executive agency

WASHINGTON, March 18, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Family Research Council today stated the U.S. Senate's confirmation of Xavier Becerra as Secretary of Health and Human Services by a vote of 50-49 makes abundantly clear the Biden administration and the Democratic Party are using health care and the coronavirus as a cover for their political agenda. 

Family Research Council President Tony Perkins made the following remarks:

"We're disappointed to see the U.S. Senate hand the job of leading our nation out of the worst pandemic in 100 years to a man with zero training in medicine, science, pharma, or the health care world. The only real experience he has with the industry is suing hospitals, pregnancy care centers, and other entities that aren't pro-abortion enough for his liking. His extreme views are bad enough, but as attorney general of California, he forced those views on others, even after he was rebuked by the U.S. Supreme Court.

"As Senator James Lankford noted, President Biden could have chosen a better Secretary of Health and Human Services using LinkedIn. Instead, the man he chose is less than qualified for anything but aggressively targeting political adversaries. Biden promised to unite the country, and then he assigned the most radical advocate for the Left's pro-abortion, anti-First Amendment agenda he could find to lead the nation's largest executive agency. In his Senate hearings, Xavier Becerra refused to identify any policy to expand abortion he would oppose, and even refused to apologize for his past support for the barbaric practice of partial birth abortion," concluded Perkins.

Connor Semelsberger, Director of Federal Affairs for Life and Human Dignity at Family Research Council, added:

"The Department of Health and Human Services has the broadest authority of any agency over federal policies affecting abortion and conscience rights for health care providers. Xavier Becerra has made it clear through his nomination process that he does not intend to champion a unifying healthcare response to the pandemic, but rather he plans to export the pro-abortion policies he championed in California across the whole country. The radical policies, like the Obamacare contraception mandate that came from HHS during the Obama Administration, will pale in comparison to what we can expect with Becerra at the helm."

See our latest talking points and blog outlining Becerra's record on anti-life, anti-family policies.

SOURCE Family Research Council