"Women and their families, when faced with a devastating diagnosis of a significant fetal anomaly, have the right to make the decision which is appropriate for them, in consultation with their doctors," Levine said.
Levine's family moved their mother out of a personal care home early in the COVID-19 pandemic, because of the high spread of the virus; the decision invited some media scrutiny.
Levine was also questioned for the state's policy of requiring nursing homes to accept recovering COVID patients from hospitals, although the state health secretary responded that asymptomatic staff at the homes-not patients discharged from hospitals-were the primary spreaders of the virus there.
If Levine is confirmed to HHS, along with Becerra, they together could craft policy to influence a number of issues including abortion, gender-transition surgery, and the contraceptive mandate.
While California's attorney general, Becerra fought aggressively in favor of an abortion coverage mandate that religious employers were not exempt from, and continued the prosecution of pro-life activist David Daleiden.
If confirmed as Health Secretary, Becerra-a Catholic-could reignite a number of Obama-era policies that the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and other Catholic groups were opposed to.
These might include resurrecting court battles with the Little Sisters of the Poor and other Catholic groups that opposed the Obama administration's procedure by which to "opt out" of the contraceptive mandate. The groups said that the policy still required them to provide coverage for contraceptives through their employee health plans, which they morally objected to.
Other HHS policies could include re-imposing the full transgender mandate-a requirement that doctors perform gender-transition surgery upon the referral of a mental health professional-and various requirements of religious groups that receive HHS grants, such as adoption agencies having to match children with same-sex couples.
Matt Hadro was the political editor at Catholic News Agency through October 2021. He previously worked as CNA senior D.C. correspondent and as a press secretary for U.S. Congressman Chris Smith.