Presidential claimant Joe Biden has selected California Attorney General Xavier Becerra as his choice for secretary of health and human services (HHS). Becerra is well known to readers of The New American and pro-life news sources such as LifeNews.com. The New American noted of Becerra in 2017 (after he had just been nominated for the post of state attorney general by California Governor Jerry Brown) that he has a “long history of associating with communist and progressive groups.” And LifeNews.com, in response to Biden’s naming of Becerra as his choice for HHS secretary, described him as a “radical abortion activist.”
Becerra was sworn in as California’s attorney general in January 2017, succeeding Kamala Harris, who had just assumed the position of U.S. senator a few weeks earlier.
Prior to becoming California’s attorney general, since 2017, Becerra served 12 terms in the U.S. House of Representatives. He received a perfect rating of 100 percent from NARAL Pro-Choice America during his last congressional term.
Just two months after becoming attorney general, on March 28, 2017, Becerra brought 15 felony charges against pro-life activist David Daleiden for filming undercover videos of Planned Parenthood and other “reproductive health” employees. We observed in an April 4, 2017 article in The New American that the Los Angeles Times editorial board, which has a history of supporting abortion on demand, surprised many readers by publishing an editorial on March 31 criticizing Becerra’s decision to file the charges against pro-life activist David Daleiden and his organization, the Center for Medical Progress.
The videos attracted widespread media coverage, and led to five separate congressional investigations of Planned Parenthood.
Becerra’s charges against Daleiden were dismissed by a California Superior Court judge in June 2017 for not stating the names of those recorded and the specific dates of the recordings. Becerra refiled the charges with the names and dates in July 2017.
Following the announcement of Becerra as Biden’s choice to head HHS, Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the pro-life Susan B. Anthony List, stated: “Far from ‘uniting’ the country, Biden has proven yet again he is an extremist on abortion. Becerra is aggressively pro-abortion and a foe of free speech.”
Christian Headlines cited Dannenfelser’s statement that as attorney general of California, Becerra “continued” what former California Attorney General Kamala Harris started “by persecuting citizen journalists who exposed Planned Parenthood’s role in baby parts trafficking.”
The announcement also created alarm among other pro-life and Christian leaders. Lila Rose, founder and president of Live Action, tweeted: “In picking Xavier Becerra, @JoeBiden shows that not only will he force taxpayers to fund the slaughter of preborn children at the will of their parents (repeal of #Hyde), but he supports the prosecution of Americans who dare to expose the unprecedented evils of Planned Parenthood.”
“#Hyde refers” to Biden’s pledge to support taxpayer funding of abortion by opposing the Hyde Amendment.
Albert Mohler, president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, labeled Becerra “deeply” concerning for pro-lifers. “He has turned his office as attorney general of California into an industrial machine [for] pushing the agenda of Planned Parenthood and the culture of death,” Mohler said on his December 7 podcast, The Briefing.
Becerra’s record goes far beyond support for abortion on demand, however, as has been noted in articles in The New American going back several years. Back in January 2017, when California’s senate began confirmation hearings on Brown’s nominee to replace Harris, our writer, Bob Adelmann, predicted that — given his radical background — Becerra would face little opposition in the “progressive” state legislature.
That report noted that since being elected to the House of Representatives in 1992, Becerra welcomed the support of far-left groups such as the Democratic Socialists of America, which formally endorsed his reelection to the House in 1996.
Among the leftist votes Becerra participated in while serving in the House was one in September 2009 when the House voted 345-75 to defund ACORN, a notoriously radical and corrupt community organization, Becerra joined the minority.
Becerra also voted against several important bills to protect the right to keep and bear arms, including the National Right-to-Carry Reciprocity Act of 2011, the “Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act,” and the “Arming Pilots Against Terrorism Act.”
Related articles:
Calif. Attorney General Files Charges Against Pro-life Activist Daleiden
Xavier Becerra, Radical Pick for California AG, Likely a Shoo-in
L.A. Times Criticizes California AG for Charging Pro-life Activist With Felonies
Calif. Attorney General Files Charges Against Pro-life Activist Daleiden
