HHS Secretary Sebelius to address Georgetown graduates despite protest from Catholic archbishop

[Eugene]

Source: Washington Post

Posted at 07:00 AM ET, 05/18/2012

HHS Secretary Sebelius to address Georgetown graduates despite protest from Catholic archbishop

By Jenna Johnson

Graduates of the Georgetown University Public Policy Institute will gather Friday morning for an awards ceremony and keynote speech by a woman who has riled up controversy in the Catholic Church in recent months: Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius.

Leaders of the Catholic Church have argued that the invitation was inappropriate given that Sebelius was a key architect of the 2010 health-care law, which requires that employers provide contraception coverage even if it is against their religious beliefs. Georgetown, the country’s oldest Catholic university, has frequently found itself swept into the national debate about the health-care mandate and religious freedom.

Talk show host Rush Limbaugh’s attack on Georgetown University law student Sandra Fluke for her support of contraceptive coverage — and President Obama’s subsequent public outreach to Fluke — further heightened Georgetown’s profile in the heated debate over contraceptive coverage.

Earlier this week, Washington’s archbishop called Georgetown’s invitation to Sebelius “shocking.” More than 27,000 people signed a petition circulated by a conservative Catholic think tank that urged the university to find a new speaker.

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Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/campus-overload/post/hhs-secretary-sebelius-to-address-georgetown-graduates-despite-protest-from-catholic-archbishop/2012/05/18/gIQADCI7XU_blog.html

[BeyondGeography]

1. "Shocking"???

That's your department, Mr. Archbishop.

[lamp_shade]

2. CSPAN2 will carry it.