Bushwhacked
So, I usually don't do email forwards. I usually delete them before even opening them, in fact. But this particular one came from a very good friend, and I took the moment to look at it. I was absolutely infuriated by it, but sadly, not surprised.
If you are at all worried about the White House's plans for women's reproductive rights and the right to take the pill, you should
RE: AN UPCOMING PRESIDENTIAL APPOINTMENT:
Whether you're Right or Left on the issue of women's
reproductive rights, please consider the following...
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 antiabortion 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.
WHAT CAN YOU DO?
1. SEND THIS TO EVERY PERSON WHO IS CONCERNED ABOUT WOMEN'S
RIGHTS.
2. OPPOSE THE PLACEMENT OF THIS MAN BY CONTACTING THE WHITE
HOUSE AND TELL
THEM HE IS TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE ON ANY LEVEL.
Please email President Bush at 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."
So. I just wrote my first letter to the President. I never thought I'd have to tell the so-called leader of the free world that I have the right to safely and maturely share my sexuality with a partner of my choosing. Or that there is a reason for the separation of Church and State, and that reason is to ensure the rights of all Americans, not just those who follow and practice a fundamentalist Christian ideology.
If you are at all worried about the White House's plans for women's reproductive rights and the right to take the pill, you should
RE: AN UPCOMING PRESIDENTIAL APPOINTMENT:
Whether you're Right or Left on the issue of women's
reproductive rights, please consider the following...
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 antiabortion 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.
WHAT CAN YOU DO?
1. SEND THIS TO EVERY PERSON WHO IS CONCERNED ABOUT WOMEN'S
RIGHTS.
2. OPPOSE THE PLACEMENT OF THIS MAN BY CONTACTING THE WHITE
HOUSE AND TELL
THEM HE IS TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE ON ANY LEVEL.
Please email President Bush at 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."
So. I just wrote my first letter to the President. I never thought I'd have to tell the so-called leader of the free world that I have the right to safely and maturely share my sexuality with a partner of my choosing. Or that there is a reason for the separation of Church and State, and that reason is to ensure the rights of all Americans, not just those who follow and practice a fundamentalist Christian ideology.