WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden’s pick for health secretary is taking heat for his defense of abortion rights from a tag team of Republicans looking to define him — and the new administration — as out of the mainstream. Xavier Becerra’s nomination faces a key vote Wednesday in the Senate Finance Committee. It’s a test, too, for national organizations opposed to abortion, which seek to block his confirmation to head the Department of Health and Human Services. As attorney general of California, Becerra defended some of the nation’s most liberal laws and policies on abortion rights.
