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| California Attorney General and HHS Secretary Nominee Xavier Becerra photo credit: Gage Skidmore / Flickr |
The committee's vote was evenly split 14-14 along party lines. As a result, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer broke the tie to bring Becerra's nomination before the full Senate for a vote.
“Xavier Becerra has no health care experience but, if confirmed, would lead the Department of Health and Human Services during a pandemic,” Carol Tobias, president of National Right to Life. “While Mr. Becerra lacks health care experience, he makes up for it with his proven track record of extreme abortion advocacy and hostility to pro-lifers.”
Becerra is known for going after pro-life Californians using his power as Attorney General.
- He targeted pro-life pregnancy resource centers and forced them to advertise abortion under the Reproductive FACT Act (which has since been struck down).
- He sued the federal government when an HHS rule granted the Little Sisters of the Poor a religious exemption from a contraception coverage mandate
- After the Center for Medical Progress exposed Planned Parenthood for harvesting and selling the body parts of aborted babies, Becerra prosecuted the pro-life undercover journalists for their work.
“Mr. Becerra’s nomination by this administration is a favor to the abortion industry,” Tobias said. It is difficult to conclude otherwise when Mr. Becerra brings no public health experience to the position. Putting him at the head of the nation’s health care agency is a prescription for disaster.”
