Posted on 07/15/2009 6:33:25 AM PDT by Pope Pius XII
WASHINGTON, D.C., July 14, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Details are scarce on the abortion position of Dr. Regina Benjamin, whom President Obama yesterday named to take over as Surgeon General in his administration. While Catholic League president Bill Donohue has praised Obama's choice of the Catholic Benjamin, he also noted that Benjamin, as Surgeon General, will have the final say on whether Obama's healthcare reform package will mandate abortion coverage.
Benjamin, who won fame for her perseverance in rebuilding the small health clinic she established for Alabama's rural poor, serves or formerly served on the boards of multiple medical associations, including the American Medical Association and the Catholic Health Association. A recipient of the "Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice" award from Pope Benedict XVI for her humanitarian work, Benjamin is widely considered a devout Roman Catholic. She has also received the National Caring Award, an honor which was inspired by Mother Teresa.
Retired Archbishop Oscar H. Lipscomb of Mobile told the Catholic News Service that he was "delighted" by Benjamin's nomination, saying, "She is a person who has a great sense of responsibility and is authentic in her Catholicism."
(Excerpt) Read more at lifesitenews.com ...
How did she make it thru the Obama Adminstration vetting
process?
The article does not say, but all of that implies that she is Pro Life? If so look for the usual suspects to sink her nomination, just like they did to Sanjay Gupta for not being pro-Socialized Medicine.
If she is not Pro Life then the Church is really blowing it bigtime again...
Maybe they should find out how catholic she is before jumping on board.
No they're not...
White House spokesman Reid Cherlin said Benjamin "supports the president's position on reproductive health issues." Obama supports abortion rights and public funding of contraception and sex education.
Cherlin continued: "Like him she believes that this is an issue where it is important to try and seek common ground and come together to try and reduce the number of unintended pregnancies. As a physician, she is deeply committed to the philosophy of putting her patients' needs first when it comes to providing care."
Benjamin also was a board member of Physicians for Human Rights, an international group that has advocated access to safe abortions in its investigation of human rights conditions in some countries.
During the conference, on Dec. 10, 1996 the AMA discussed whether they should recommend training doctors in how to perform abortions. The organization urged doctors to learn "more than just the ethics of it," according to a report by the Associated Press. The report quoted Benjamin, who was then a delegate to the AMA, as saying, "We are adopting a policy that medical school curriculum provide the legal, ethical, and psychological principles associated with abortion so students can learn all the factors involved."
I cant recall this kind of decision being made by the SG.
What the heck is going on with my church? Have they lost their marbles?
First Norte Dame, now this? The pillars of the Catholic institution in America are crumbling to political pressure.
So this person is pro-abortion! Great find—thanks.
Not really a Catholic, just a CINO.
God help her.
In December 1996, Benjamin spoke in favor of a vote by the AMA's governing body to "urge medical schools to expand their curriculum" to teach "more about abortion." She supported teaching doctors to do abortions in an interview with the Associated Press. "We are adopting a policy that medical school curriculum provide the legal, ethical, and psychological principles associated with abortion so students can learn all the factors involved," she said.
Benjamin is also on the board of directors of Physicians for Human Rights, an organization which has spoken out against illegal abortions in many nations across the world. group has relied on disputed statistics on maternal deaths from abortions to call for legalization.
The group also called on President Bush not to expand the Mexico City Policy, which President Obama overturned in January, that stops sending taxpayer dollars to groups that promote and perform abortions in other nations. And it asked President Bush to ratify the CEDAW treaty that does not include abortion promotion but has been used by the United Nations to pressure numerous countries to legal abortion or expand abortions further.
Is their position the same today?
I was in a hospital cafe yesterday, and it looked like a Doc was being interviewed. All of sudden the interviewer said “we don’t do abortions here” I looked around and smiled.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.