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“Beyond her decision not to “speak Catholic,” Sebelius has a politically thorny relationship with her bishop. In April, she vetoed legislation that would have beefed up efforts to enforce restrictions on abortion providers in Kansas. The law was aimed squarely at Dr. George Tiller, one of the nation's fiercest defenders of late-term abortions. Sebelius said she vetoed the law because it was clearly unconstitutional and would invite frivolous lawsuits, a position that was supported by the Kansas City Star and various women's organizations. Archbishop Joseph Naumann of Kansas City — Sebelius’s own bishop — saw it differently: He went public with his request that the governor refrain from presenting herself for communion. In a column in his diocesan paper, the archbishop called her behavior “scandalous” before going on to say, “The spiritually lethal message, communicated by our governor, as well as many other high-profile Catholics in public life, has been in effect: ‘The church's teaching on abortion is optional.’” Sebelius did not offer any public response to the archbishop's edict.

Archbishop Naumann is one of a number of conservative prelates who have decided to use the communion rail as a bludgeon in the culture war. (The most famous example came in 2004, when Archbishop Raymond Burke of St. Louis forbade John Kerry from receiving communion within his jurisdiction; another was when Douglas Kmiec, a former Department of Justice official in the Reagan administration, was denied communion for his support of Obama this year.) Naumann has been published in the conservative Catholic journal First Things, a magazine that often mimics White House talking points more faithfully than it follows the teachings of the Catholic Church. And he has participated in the National Catholic Prayer Breakfast, an annual event that's meant to bring Catholics together with (mostly Republican) political leaders. In the event that Obama selects Sebelius, we can expect Naumann to take to the airwaves, and Obama’s campaign could be forced into a high-profile and unwelcome skirmish with a religious figure.”

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/08/01/opinion/main4316206.shtml

Obama did this because he isn't getting much of a Prolife vote, anyway.

He is being short sighted. This is going to blur the line between “Pro Choice” and “Pro Abortion” ——

Obama is about to force Catholic medical providers into the abortion camp or out of the medical field.

If Sebelius does not take a stand against that action, she should be FORMALLY, Ceremonially, EX COMMUNICATED!

Those of us who have been a bit upset with our Catholic Church leaders over the last decade, are watching to see how they handle this.

I might have to go Eastern Orthodox!