By Susan Brinkmann, OCDS
Staff Writer
A White House spokesman is confirming that President Barack Obama’s nominee for surgeon general, Dr. Regina Benjamin, is a Catholic who supports abortion rights.
McClatchy Newspapers is reporting that White House spokesman Reid Cherlin said Dr. Benjamin, “supports the president’s position on reproductive issues.”
He went on to say: “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.”
While Dr. Benjamin’s clinic, the Bayou LaBatre Rural Health Clinic in Alabama does not perform abortions, a clinic employee who declined to be identified said by telephone that patients seeking information about abortions are referred to providers in the state.
LifeNews is also reporting that In December 1996, Dr. Benjamin spoke in favor of a vote by the American Medical Association’s governing body to “urge medical schools to expand their curriculum” to teach “more about abortion.”
She appeared to have supported teaching doctors about 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.
These new revelations put Dr. Benjamin at odds with the Catholic Church in spite of the fact that Pope Benedict XVI awarded her the distinguished service medal Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice in 2005, an award given to lay people and clergy who have given zealous and outstanding service to the Church.
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