Sebelius and Kmiec Catholicism - the Catholic Left Declares War on Pro-Lifers

(Hat tip: Opinionated Catholic)

A must-read from The American Spectator:

... But the most intriguing component of Sebelius's nomination is her Catholicism. Not that Catholic abortion supporters are rare -- see Obama's failed nominee to HHS, Tom Daschle. But Sebelius is significant as an attempt by Obama to foment a civil war within Catholicism to neutralize its pro-life efforts.

Like a shrewd general, Obama is using Catholics themselves as his ground troops. Two dozen prominent Obama supporters quickly launched a letter supporting Sebelius, and claiming that they are Catholic and pro-life. The letter's signers are the same liberal Obama Pro-Lifers from his presidential campaign, led by Professor Doug Kmiec and the Soros-funded group "Catholics United."

What is different about this new strain of cafeteria Catholics is not their support for abortion politicians, but their claim that they are the true abortion opponents within Catholicism. They reveled in Obama's season of audacity, and simply claimed that the most extreme pro-abortion candidate in history was really a pro-lifer. It worked. In an election about economics, they gave Catholics the rationalization they needed to vote for political celebrity but against the unborn.

Yet pro-lifers hoped that the Obama Pro-Lifers might really oppose Obama’s pro-abortion policies. They dreamed that Doug Kmiec might actually do some good, by using Obama’s listening ear by convincing him to moderate his extremist abortion agenda.

Till now it was unclear which path the new Catholic left would take. They were silent when Obama awarded international funding to abortion organizations. But doubts were raised when several of them actually attacked the pro-life campaign against Obama's Freedom of Choice Act, even though that campaign is the only thing keeping FOCA from becoming reality.

The Obama Pro-Lifers' letter has smashed any such hopes. They have declared full-scale war against Catholic and evangelical pro-life political activity. In its place they seek elevate themselves as the arbiters of their own Vichy Catholicism and liberal Christianity, which actually supports the specific goals of an abortion-loving government regime.

***
... Sibelius's own Bishop in Kansas City met with her and afterwards declared that she is assuredly not "living and acting" her pro-life Catholic faith -- he even told her not to come to Communion. When Doug Kmiec writes a letter claiming the opposite, he is trumping the authority of a local ordinary. Even the gentlest Catholic bishop might not give up his seat so easily. And Kmiec is not likely to be satisfied merely with the See of Kansas City.

[Read the whole thing]

(emphasis added)