First, I have always been pro-life. I believe that life begins at conception and that every life is precious. I believe that we as a society have the responsibility to protect those who cannot protect themselves and speak for those who cannot speak for themselves. That is why I am so strongly opposed to abortion. Abortions kill the most fragile, most vulnerable and most needy among us. These children cannot defend themselves, so they desperately need us to protect them.

To me, abortion is about whether or not defenseless, unborn babies have the right to live. The answer is clearly "yes, they do." I really don't understand how people can come to any other conclusion than that one.

Unfortunately, too many people do. According to National Right to Life, there have been more than 49 million abortions in the United States since 1973, with about 1.2 million in 2005, the year they have the most recent data. These numbers are staggering and saddening.

I cannot support the nomination of someone to be the leader of our health and human services department who does not respect human life. That is why I will be voting against Governor Sebelius. Her record as Governor of Kansas on abortion issue is dismal.

She has vetoed multiple pieces of legislation passed by the Kansas legislature dealing with abortion, including bills in 2003, 2005, 2006, 2008. In fact, just last week she vetoed yet another bill. These were common-sense bills that I think most Americans could agree with, such as creating standards for abortion clinics like requirements for cleaning and sterilizing rooms and equipment, counseling before and after the abortion, and medical screenings for patients.

Several of the bills dealt with changes to Kansas' late term abortions laws, including the one vetoed last week. That bill required certain information be reported to the state when doctors perform late-term abortions, including the specific medical reason the abortion was performed. Another bill would have given women about to undergo an abortion the opportunity to listen to the baby's heartbeat and see an ultrasound of their child, along with several other provisions. Governor Sebelius vetoed all of these bills.

I am also greatly concerned about Governor Sebelius' relationship with George Tiller - an abortion doctor from Wichita who specializes in late-term abortion. Dr. Tiller's website, he says his clinic has "more experience in late abortion services over 24 weeks than anyone else currently practicing in the Western Hemisphere, Europe and Australia." This is not something to be proud of.

I know the pro-abortion supporters like to make the argument that unborn babies are just a clump of cells and not yet a human. They couldn't be more wrong. These unborn babies are developing, growing, can feel pain and certainly have the will to live. Let me briefly give you a description of the developmental milestones babies reach as they grow up to 24 weeks.

According to information from the Mayo Clinic's website:

• At 5 weeks, the heart begins to beat.
• At 8 weeks, eyelids are forming, along with ears, upper lip, nose, fingers and toes.
• At 9 weeks, the baby begins to move.
• At 12 weeks, fingernails and toenails are forming.
• At 16 weeks, the baby's eyes are sensitive to light.
• At 18 weeks, the ears start working, and the baby can even be startled by loud noises.
• At 19 weeks, the kidneys are working.
• Around 20 weeks, most mothers can feel their babies move.
• At 22 weeks, taste buds are forming.
• At 23 weeks, the baby begins to practice breathing so she will be ready once she is born.
• At 24 weeks, a baby weighs about 1 and a half pounds, has footprints and fingerprints and starts to have regular waking and sleep cycles.

The website says that babies born at 24 weeks have a 50 percent chance of survival. And, this is where Dr. Tiller steps in and aborts the baby. How can you hear these developmental milestones and believe these babies are expendable? That these babies' lives are less important than someone else's or that they can simply be killed and thrown away? Think of the difference between two babies at 24 weeks - one is wanted and the other is not.

For the child born early whose parents love and want her, she would be rushed into a neonatal intensive care unit after the delivery, where she would be given around-the-clock, intensive medical care until she was big and strong enough to go home. Every day in this country, premature babies cling to life and fight to survive. I think most parents of premature babies would tell you that their child's will to live is courageous and inspiring.

For the poor babies who have parents choose to abort them, their life is about to end. According to Planned Parenthood, a procedure called a "dilation and excavation" - or D and E - is generally performed in pregnancies over 16 weeks.

Let me read to you how National Right to Life describes this procedure:

"Forceps with sharp metal jaws are used to grasp parts of the developing baby, which are then twisted and torn away. This continues until the child's entire body is removed from the womb. Because the baby's skull has often hardened to bone by this time, the skull must sometimes be compressed or crushed to facilitate removal."

That is disgusting, and anyone who tries to justify it should be ashamed. Abortion and the callous disregard for human life in this country is a real tragedy. George Tiller's work greatly concerns me. Governor Sebelius' ties to George Tiller greatly concern me. The late-term abortion doctor has donated tens of thousands to dollars to Governor Sebelius, and she has even honored him at the Governor's mansion in Kansas.

Governor Sebelius hasn't always been upfront about their relationship, as well. In answering questions to the Finance Committee, Governor Sebelius originally said Tiller had donated about $12,000 to her. A few days later she had to go back to revise that amount because somehow an additional $23,000 in donations from the abortion doctor had been overlooked and not accounted for. While she says this was an "inadvertent omission," it seems that you would remember that sum of money from one of your most controversial donors.

I certainly realize that President Obama would not nominate someone to be Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services who is pro-life. However, Governor Sebelius' record on life issues, along with her ties to late-term abortion doctor Tiller, cannot be overlooked.

The leader of the Health and Human Services Department should be balanced and reasonable. There is nothing in Governor Sebelius' record that makes me think she is either of these things when it comes to protecting the life of the unborn.

The second major reason I am opposing this nomination is I don't believe that Governor Sebelius has the experience to be the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services. HHS is an enormous bureaucracy responsible for everything from the Medicare program to the National Institutes of Health to the Food and Drug Administration.

The department has 11 operating divisions, over 64,000 employees, a budget of $707 billion, and - according to HHS's website - it allocates more grant dollars than all other agencies combined. This is a tremendous responsibility, and the department needs someone with hands-on experience.

As Governor of Kansas, she appointed someone to run their health department and was not directly responsible for the day-to-day operation. As Congress considers major health care reform legislation this year, we need someone with extensive experience on setting health policy for the entire country.

I fundamentally disagree with Governor Sebelius on life issues and do not believe she has the experience to lead such a large department. I will be voting "no" on her nomination.

Thank you.