After a day of uncertainty, Kansas Sen. Sam Brownback said Tuesday he would vote to confirm Gov. Kathleen Sebelius for secretary of Health and Human Services.

“The President won the election and has nominated a Kansan to the cabinet,” Brownback said in a statement. “Despite our profound policy differences, I will support my fellow Kansan.”

Brownback joined Sen. Pat Roberts, who also made his intentions known Tuesday.

Earlier Tuesday, Brownback had deferred. “He doesn’t plan to say anything either way at this point,” said a spokesman.

Some questioned how Brownback would decide, considering how abortion opponents — who have long seen Sebelius as unacceptable — were a major part of his base in his coming run for governor.

Brownback’s position had been a concern to the White House. Two sources have told The Star that Obama himself called Brownback last week to gauge his reaction. The president wanted to be sure that Brownback wouldn’t work to derail the nomination, a top Democrat said.

Unlike Roberts, Brownback was not at White House ceremony Monday and seemed to be wavering.

“He’s between a rock and a hard place,” Kansas State University political scientist Joe Aistrup said before Brownback issued his Tuesday statement.

Ron Thornburgh, the four-term secretary of state running against Brownback next year for the GOP nomination, had ripped Brownback for “backpedaling” from a joint statement issued Saturday with Roberts that said:

“We are hopeful Governor Sebelius will be a voice for Kansas and rural America at the department. We look forward to working with her on issues important to the state…”

Thornburgh called the weekend statement tantamount to an endorsement: “I’m stunned that Sam would endorse her because she’s an individual who goes against everything he has said he believes in his career. He’s doing it out of political expendiency to try to move to the left.”

Tim Golba, Kansas anti-abortion leader, said Sebelius “stands for everything he’s against when it comes to this cabinet position — embryonic stem cell research. You go right down the line.

 “If he votes for her, I think that would be the wrong message, that’s for sure . I’d be very disappointed, and I think a lot of other pro-lifers would be, too.”

Following Obama’s nomination Saturday, opposition to Sebelius from anti-abortion groups broke loose. On Tuesday, the National Right to Life Committee criticized the appointment again, describing the Democrat as “an extreme pro-abortionist” and characterizing her appointment as “tragic, but not surprising.”

Those groups have been countered by others, such as Catholics United, which backs Sebelius. On Tuesday, Catholics United accused anti-abortion groups of “misrepresenting the facts on Governor Sebelius’ record of working across party lines to reduce abortion in Kansas.”

 Texas Sen. John Cornyn, a Republican, told The Hill newspaper this week that the joint statement from Roberts and Brownback was a “notable step toward neutralizing GOP opposition.

“We’ll wait and see, but I haven’t heard anything to indicate the nomination will not go forward,” Cornyn said.

Exactly when confirmation hearings will start remained unclear Tuesday.