As if john ashcroft's crazy ass wasn't bad enough,
Bush wants a doctor who prescribes BIBLE STUDY to
women experiencing PMS to be the head of the FDA Reproductive Health Drugs Advisory Committee .
===========================================
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
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 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 omen 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.
Hager'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
panel should be appointed on the basis of science
and medicine, rather than politics and religion.
Women deserve no less.
Bush wants a doctor who prescribes BIBLE STUDY to
women experiencing PMS to be the head of the FDA Reproductive Health Drugs Advisory Committee .
===========================================
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
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 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 omen 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.
Hager'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
panel should be appointed on the basis of science
and medicine, rather than politics and religion.
Women deserve no less.
