The Catholic League says it would be a big mistake for Obama to choose Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, Catholic, as his new director of HHS (as rumors suggest he will).

League prez Bill Donohue says: “This is setting up a confrontation that pro-life Catholics will not walk away from. It is also setting up a battle between those Catholics who are honestly pro-life, and those who feign a pro-life position while always embracing the likes of Sebelius.”

Sebelius has also been criticized by Kansan bishops. Last summer, when she was rumored to be in the running for Obama’s VP slot, Archbishop Joseph Naumann of Kansas City (Kansas) ordered her not to take Communion anymore because of her support for abortion rights.

I later talked to Naumann at the U.S. Catholic Bishops Conference in November, when Sebelius was rumored to be heading to HHS. This is what he said:”It is a concern,” Naumann said. “I can understand why President-elect Obama would look to her for a role in his administration. She is a very gifted and intelligent public servant. But it concerns me because of her complete failure to understand the church’s teaching on the sanctity of human life. “

If Sebelius is named head of HHS, Nauman said: “I’m am concerned about what could come about as a result of her actions and what kind of harmful effects those actions could have.”

The progressive group Catholics United says Donohue should back off: “Like … Naumann – who often seems more interested in scoring political points against Gov. Sebelius than crafting effective abortion policy within the reality of politics – Mr. Donohue is doing a disservice to those Americans who will benefit from Gov. Sebelius’s leadership as Health and Human Services Secretary. We remind U.S. Catholics and other observers that the Catholic League is part of a right-wing political movement at the margins of the Catholic community, and urge them to view Mr. Donohue and his comments in this context.”