Posted by Sadie from ? (160.129.27.22) on Tuesday, February 04, 2003 at 11:37AM :
Give it up for retard-o-president.
---------------------------
President Bush has announced his plan to select Dr. W. David Hager to head up the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) Reproductive Health
Drugs Advisory Committee. The committee has not met for more than two
years, during which time its charter has lapsed. As a result, the Bush
Administration is tasked with filling all eleven positions with new
members. This position does not require Congressional approval. The
FDA's Reproductive Health Drugs Advisory Committee makes crucial
decisions on matters relating to drugs used in the practice of
obstetrics, gynecology and related specialties, including hormone
therapy, contraception, treatment for infertility, and medical
alternatives to surgical procedures for sterilization and pregnancy
termination.
Dr. Hager's views of reproductive health care are far outside the mainstream of setback for reproductive technology. Dr. Hager is a
practicing OB/GYN who describes himself as "pro-life" and refuses to prescribe contraceptives to unmarried women. Hager is the author of "As Jesus Cared for Women: Restoring Women Then and Now." The book blends biblical accounts of Christ healing women with case studies from Hager's practice. In the book Dr. Hager wrote with his wife, entitled "Stress and the Woman's Body," he suggests that women who suffer from premenstrual syndrome should seek help from reading the bible and praying. As an editor and contributing author of "The Reproduction Revolution: A Christian Appraisal of Sexuality, Reproductive Technologies and the Family," Dr. Hager appears to have endorsed the medically inaccurate
assertion that the common birth control pill is an abortifacient.
Hagar's mission is religiously motivated. He has an ardent interest in revoking approval for mifepristone (formerly known as RU-486) as a safe
and early form of medical abortion. Hagar recently assisted the
Christian Medical Association in a "citizen's petition" which calls upon
the FDA to revoke its approval of mifepristone in the name of women's
health. Hager's desire to overturn mifepristone's approval on religious
grounds rather than scientific merit would halt the development of
mifepristone as a treatment for numerous medical conditions
disproportionately affecting women, including breast cancer, uterine
cancer, uterine fibroid tumors, psychotic depression, bipolar depression
and Cushing's syndrome. Women rely on the FDA to ensure their access to
safe and effective drugs for reproductive health care including products
that prevent pregnancy. For some women - such as those with certain
types of diabetes and those undergoing treatment for cancer - pregnancy
can be a life-threatening condition. We are concerned that Dr. Hager's
strong religious beliefs may color his assessment of technologies that
are necessary to protect women's lives or to preserve and promote
women's health.
Hager's track record of using religious beliefs to guide his medical decision-making makes him a dangerous and inappropriate candidate to
serve as chair of this committee. Critical drug public policy and
research must not be held hostage by anti-abortion politics. Members of
this important panel should be appointed on the basis of science and
medicine, rather than politics and religion. American women deserve no
less.
Please email President Bush at president@whitehouse.gov mailto:president@whitehouse.gov
or call the White House at (202) 456-1111 or (202) 456-1414 and say
"I oppose the appointment of Dr. Hager to the FDA Reproductive Health Drugs Advisory Committee. Mixing religion and medicine is unacceptable. Using the
FDA to promote a political agenda is inappropriate and seriously
threatens women's health."
Here's an article from TIME about Dr. Hager.
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,361521,00.html
Thanks for reading and please forward! _____________________________________________
Medical Students for Choice
www.ms4c.org
-- Sadie
-- signature .
Follow Ups: