President Obama’s choice of Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius as HHS secretary is a poke in the eye of pro-lifers, and they are reacting accordingly. Bad enough that she’s a pro-choice Catholic, but as governor of a pretty pro-life state, she’s regularly vetoed legislation that would make it more difficult for women to obtain abortions. Such as requiring the licensing of abortion clinics and allowed relatives to petition a court to stop a late-term abortion and mandating that doctors who perform late-term abortions report a reason for the procedure. At the same time, the governor claims to have reduced abortions in the state because of her support for adoption and sex education.

What do the common-groundniks think about the appointment? Perhaps we’ll find out. In the meantime, this seems to me a smart move for the president on his own abortion-reduction front. It reassures the pro-choice community while sending this message to the pro-life one: “We are committed to reducing the number of abortions but not by doing anything to make it harder for women to get them. Join us in creating better adoption services, sex education, and access to contraception, neonatal care, and daycare. Or don’t.”