|
I received this email forwarded from a friend. The original text cites no source or news story, so I'd like to receive some sort of verification of the facts contained within. Here is the email:
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 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 YOU KNOW 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
<mailto:president@whitehouse.gov> and say "I oppose the appointment of
Dr. W. David Hager to the FDA Reproductive Health Drugs Advisory
Committee. Mixing religion and medicine is unacceptable in a
policy-making position. Using the FDA to promote a political agenda is
inappropriate and seriously threatens women's health."
|
Printer-friendly format
Email this thread to a friend
Bookmark this thread
(232 posts)
Send PM |
Profile |
Ignore
