Louisiana pro-lifers are raising concerns over incoming Governor John Bel Edwards’s selection of Dr. Rebekah Gee for state health secretary.
Louisiana Right to Life director Benjamin Clapper found that Gee, an OB/GYN, delivered a speech to the National Abortion Rights Action League in 2003, and that in 2006, she was co-plaintiff in a lawsuit attempting to force Walmart to stock the morning-after pill, which can abort conceived children by blocking their implantation in the uterus.
“With such a long record of connections with pro-abortion entities,” Clapper said, “it raises into question her abilities to run the Department of Health and Hospitals in a pro-life manner.”
Louisiana Family Forum leader Rev. Gene Mills lamented, “I find it ironic that the most pro-life state in the nation has received, somewhat in a clandestine fashion, a very aggressive advocate for the abortion position.” He also said he intends to release additional statements from Gee indicating she is a pro-abortion advocate.
Edwards’s gubernatorial transition team responded to the concerns with a statement assuring those concerned that Gee “is committed to following the law and the governor’s directives in all respects,” including running the Department of Health and Hospitals in a pro-life manner.
John Bel Edwards was elected as a pro-life Democrat in October. However, several pro-lifers raised concerns over his devotion to ending abortion, including a statement that he was pro-choice on a 2006 survey, his 2014 authoring of an amendment to weaken conscience protections for pro-life employees, and his support of Obamacare, which subsidizes abortion and directs federal funds to Planned Parenthood.
