Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann is asking Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius to choose between his will and the oath she swore to govern the state of Kansas to the best of her ability. Naumann has told Sebelius, a Catholic she must stop taking Communion. The governor has run afoul of the church several times with vetos of anti-abortion bills, the latest being a draconion measure that would have exposed abortion providers to endless lawsuits for doing their job.
Naumann says atonement for Sebelius would involve a confession, an apology and a promise to repair the damage caused by her "scandalous behavior that has misled people into dangerous behavior."
What the archbishop calls "scandalous behavior" is in fact good government. The bill Sebelius vetoed was bad public policy on so many levels.
It would have empowered district attorneys and prosecutors around the state to embark on legal fishing expeditions against abortion providers. (As if Kansas hasn't had enough of those already.)
It would have put patient privacy at risk by requiring abortion doctors to provide extensive details to the state about a woman's reasons for seeking a late-term abortion.
It would have placed abortion providers in the middle of family feuds by allowing relatives of abortion patients to sue the doctors.
What's scandalous in this matter isn't Sebelius's veto. It's Naumann's implication that a Catholic politician has to follow the lead of hard-line abortion opponents, regardless of the damage to privacy, Constitutional rights and good government.
Also, nothing Sebelius has done has "misled people into dangerous behavior." Women will terminate pregnancies regardless of what politicians, or church leaders, allow. Most of them do it voluntarily, eyes wide open. What's dangerous is erecting so many barriers to abortion that women delay the procedure or seek alternative means.+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
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