Iowa Sen. Charles Grassley plans to oppose Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius nomination to head the Department of Health and Human Services, citing her ties to a doctor who performs late-term abortions.

“I expressed my concern last week about her connection to the abortion doctor,” he said. “Not so much just the connection, but the lack of candidness with the reporting of how much help she got from him.”

Anti-abortion groups have been lobbying Republican senators to vote against Sebelius, criticizing her support for abortion rights and her ties to a late-term abortion doctor who donated to her campaigns. Sebelius initially underreported to senators the size of those donations, though she apologized and said it was an inadvertent error.

“I’m not saying she was not trying to be candid. It might be an oversight,” Grassley said. “But it’s one thing to be for or against abortion. It’s another to be close to somebody who practices late-term abortions.”

Grassley said he has no questions of Sebelius’ qualifications for the job, but he will still vote against her nomination “to express regret about her lack of candidness.”

The Senate is still expected to approve her nomination today. The lack of a HHS director was especially noticeable Monday as the White House turned to Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano to help lead its response to the swine flu outbreak.