Shows Disregard for the Health and Safety of Underserved Communities
Statement by Cecile Richards, President, Planned Parenthood Federation of America, on the Bush administration’s appointment of anti-family planning Eric Keroack, M.D. as deputy assistant secretary for population affairs
WASHINGTON, DC — “The appointment of anti-birth control, anti-sex education advocate Dr. Eric Keroack to oversee the nation’s family planning program is striking proof that the Bush administration remains dramatically out of step with the nation’s priorities. Keroack was the medical director of five so-called “crisis pregnancy centers,” whose policy was not “to distribute or encourage the use of contraception.” This politically motivated appointment is certainly not in the health interest of women and families.
“Last week Americans overwhelmingly rejected an extremist agenda, and sent a clear message by choosing candidates who make women’s health care a priority. For three decades, Title X has fostered healthy families by helping millions of American women plan and space their children through access to birth control services."
On cnn.com:
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- Several Democratic lawmakers asked the Bush administration Monday to replace its new family-planning chief because he has worked for a health provider that opposes the use of birth control.
Dr. Eric Keroack's record as an opponent of birth control and abortion makes him a poor choice to oversee a $280 million reproductive-health program, seven House Democrats said in a letter to Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt.
"We are concerned that Dr. Keroack has promoted policies -- including the refusal to distribute contraception even to married women -- that directly conflict with the mission of the federal program," the letter said.
Keroack last week was named head of HHS' Office of Population Affairs, which funds birth control, pregnancy tests, breast-cancer screening and other health services for 5 million poor people annually. HHS estimates that the program helps to prevent 1.3 million unwanted pregnancies each year.
The office also oversees a $30 million program that encourages sexual abstinence among teens.
An HHS spokeswoman said Keroack is a skilled doctor and a nationally recognized expert on preventing teen pregnancy.
"We have confidence that he'll perform his duties effectively and in accordance with the law," HHS spokeswoman Christina Pearson said by e-mail.
Keroack previously served as medical director for A Woman's Concern, a chain of Boston-area pregnancy clinics that advise against the use of contraception and advocate abstinence as a way to avoid pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases.
Keroack has spoken at abstinence conferences across the country and has written that people who have more than one sex partner have a diminished neurological capacity to experience loving relationships.
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Hmph. As if neurologists waste their time yammering about "diminished neurological capacity to experience loving relationships". Sounds like complete asinine drivel to me. The guy sounds like a total Santorum-Jr to me. Maybe they'll catch him lining his pockets the way they caught Lester Crawford and replace him with someone who pays attention to science.
Dickheads.
Natalie -- going to bed on this sour note
Posted by: Natalie | November 21, 2006 at 05:09 AM