In the Spring of 2008, Archbishop Naumann met with Sebelius to ensure that she understood the gravity of her pro-choice support as a Catholic. Following the meeting, the prelate asked her to refrain from receiving Communion until she makes a worthy confession and publicly repudiates her stand on abortion.
He later clarified that his request to her was not directed toward one particular action, but rather, it concerned her "30-year history of advocating and acting in support of legalized abortion."
According to the Catholic League, Archbishop Naumann hasn’t been the only Kansas City prelate to speak out against her actions. "Sebelius’ support for abortion is so far off-the-charts that she has been publicly criticized by the last three archbishops of Kansas City," the organization remarked. "In 1992, when Sebelius was a state legislator, Archbishop Ignatius Strecker rebuked her for leading what he dubbed a ‘death-march of the unborn.’ When Sebelius became governor in 2003, Archbishop James Keleher, citing her abortion record, asked her to move her inauguration interfaith service from Topeka’s Assumption Catholic Church. She refused. The current archbishop, Joseph Naumann, called her out on the issue: he challenged her to name one instance in her long legislative career where she supported limiting abortion rights. She could not. He subsequently asked her not to go to Communion."
Sebelius is also known to have close ties to Dr. George Tiller, an abortionist who performs late-term abortions and is the subject of a Kansas Supreme Court case for allegedly violating the state’s laws on late-term abortions.
In a statement to CNA, Austin Ruse, president of the Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute (C-FAM), emphasized the governor’s relationship with Tiller. "Governor Sebelius threw parties for George Tiller, the notorious abortionist who specialized in partial birth abortions. It is astounding to me that people like Dour Kmiec are still lauding this president as a compromiser on abortion. He is proving in spades to be the most pro-abortion president in our history."
Also commenting on Sebelius’ nomination, the director of the Christian Defense Coalition, Rev. Patrick J. Mahoney noted that the President is continuing his "losing streak" of Cabinet appointments with Governor Sebelius’ nomination.