I saw this. It made me so angry I could hardly see straight.
So, on what planet does availability of birth control INCREASE pregnancies and abortions?
I see Bush is getting his scuzzy little bit of revenge.
http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/11/....ap/index.html
Keroack currently is medical director of A Woman's Concern, a Christian nonprofit. The Dorchester, Massachusetts-based organization runs six centers in the state that offer free pregnancy testing, ultrasounds and counseling.
It also works to "help women escape the temptation and violence of abortion," according to its statement of faith. And it opposes contraception, saying its use increases out-of-wedlock pregnancy and abortion rates.
"A Woman's Concern is persuaded that the crass commercialization and distribution of birth control is demeaning to women, degrading of human sexuality and adverse to human health and happiness," its contraception policy reads in part.
"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," Cecile Richards, president of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, said in a statement.
This is who they put in charge of family planning. Excuse me I have slip off my shoes and get in the kitchen. Bring on the cocktails and valium it's the 50's all over again. My marriage feels stronger already.
Less birth control that's how to control abortion and unwanted pregnancy. What an asshat.
I saw this. It made me so angry I could hardly see straight.
So, on what planet does availability of birth control INCREASE pregnancies and abortions?
I see Bush is getting his scuzzy little bit of revenge.
Oh, and availablity of birth control is demeaning to women?
But some religious wingnut who doesn't have female plumbing controlling what we do with our bodies isn't, huh?
How, Why, Where do people come up with this shit?
Unbelievable.
Unfreakingbelievable.
Just another example of Bush's "bipartisanship". [img]mad.gif[/img]
I didnt quite understand the relevance of why we would care about this guy until I read this article in the Post. A little post election pandering...
----------------------------------------------
Bush Choice for Family-Planning Post Criticized
By Christopher Lee
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, November 17, 2006; Page A01
The Bush administration has appointed a new chief of family-planning programs at the Department of Health and Human Services who worked at a Christian pregnancy-counseling organization that regards the distribution of contraceptives as "demeaning to women."
Eric Keroack, medical director for A Woman's Concern, a nonprofit group based in Dorchester, Mass., will become deputy assistant secretary for population affairs in the next two weeks, department spokeswoman Christina Pearson said yesterday.
Keroack, an obstetrician-gynecologist, will advise Secretary Mike Leavitt on matters such as reproductive health and adolescent pregnancy. He will oversee $283 million in annual family-planning grants that, according to HHS, are "designed to provide access to contraceptive supplies and information to all who want and need them with priority given to low-income persons."
The appointment, which does not require Senate confirmation, was the latest provocative personnel move by the White House since Democrats won control of Congress in this month's midterm elections. President Bush last week pushed the Senate to confirm John R. Bolton as ambassador to the United Nations and this week renominated six candidates for appellate court judgeships who have previously been blocked by lawmakers. Democrats said the moves belie Bush's post-election promises of bipartisanship.
The Keroack appointment angered many family-planning advocates, who noted that A Woman's Concern supports sexual abstinence until marriage, opposes contraception and does not distribute information promoting birth control at its six centers in eastern Massachusetts.
"A Woman's Concern is persuaded that the crass commercialization and distribution of birth control is demeaning to women, degrading of human sexuality and adverse to human health and happiness," the group's Web site says.
Keroack was traveling and could not be reached for comment. John O. Agwunobi, assistant secretary for health, said Keroack "is highly qualified and a well-respected physician . . . working primarily with women and girls in crisis."
Mark Conrad, president of A Woman's Concern, said Keroack would be able to make the transition to leading a federal program in which provision of birth control is an integral part. "I don't think it's going to be an issue for him," he said.
The group helps women in unplanned pregnancies but discourages abortions, Conrad said. He said the decision is the woman's but "we do want to give her the opportunity to have all the information and the support necessary to choose life."
Marilyn Keefe, interim president of the National Family Planning and Reproductive Health Association, which represents 4,000 family-planning clinics, said Keroack's work "seems to really be geared toward furthering anti-choice, anti-contraception policies." She added that despite the congressional election results, the appointment "goes to show you the importance of controlling the White House and how important federal agencies are in the delivery of health services."
The federal family-planning program, created in 1970, supports a network of 4,600 family-planning clinics that provide information and counseling to 5 million people each year. Services include patient education and counseling, breast and pelvic exams, pregnancy diagnosis and counseling, and screenings for cervical cancer, sexually transmitted diseases and HIV.
Cecile Richards, president of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, called Keroack's appointment "striking proof that the Bush administration remains dramatically out of step with the nation's priorities."
Taken together, Keroack's appointment, the Bolton push and the judicial renominations suggest that although Bush may work for consensus with Democrats on selected issues, he does not plan to avoid decisions simply because lawmakers will disagree, and he may in fact seek fights in some instances when he feels they may be useful politically.
Confirmation of Bolton and the judicial nominees are popular causes with Bush's conservative base, and a family-planning chief from an organization that opposes contraceptives may appeal to disaffected social conservatives.
White House spokeswoman Dana M. Perino cautioned against reading a larger pattern into the recent moves, saying, "You have to look at these things in isolation."
She added: "The president has said we will look to reach common ground where we can find it. However, he's not going to compromise on his principles."
Here is the editorial in Today's Globe..
Not family-friendly
November 18, 2006
BY NOW, Americans might expect President Bush to appoint an opponent of abortion to a key public health position in his administration. But to name an opponent of family planning to oversee the nation's family planning program is perverse even by the standards of a government that doesn't much believe in government.
Marblehead gynecologist Eric Keroack's appointment as deputy assistant secretary for population affairs in the Health and Human Services Department exemplifies the concerns of women's health advocates who have long warned that the antiabortion movement will not stop at abortion. Dr. Keroack oversees a network of "crisis pregnancy" centers across Massachusetts, where staffers not only try to talk women out of having abortions, but also oppose the use of contraception, even for married couples.
A Woman's Concern operates six free pregnancy resource clinics, where it promotes abstinence -- or "sexual purity and self-mastery" -- for its clients. It will not distribute brochures that promote contraception or make referrals to any health center that distributes birth control products. That means any kind at all, not just the morning-after pill or other methods that some consider akin to abortion because they can destroy a fertilized egg. Although it recognizes that some abortion opponents "find no inherent fault with some forms of birth control" among married couples, the rules at A Woman's Concern apply to sex within marriage.
Keroack has promoted some novel ideas in his research involving sexuality. He has co-authored studies claiming the release of the chemical oxytocin during sexual arousal creates a kind of addiction to sex, and that extensive previous sexual experience interferes with the ability of couples to bond. A Woman's Concern also makes a curious leap in its policy toward contraception, saying that "distribution of birth control, especially among adolescents, actually increases out-of-wedlock pregnancy and abortion." As evidence it cites Massachusetts Department of Public Health Statistics that 72 percent of women with unplanned pregnancies in the 1990s had been using contraception at the time.
It is accepted science as well as common sense that women who space their pregnancies, have smaller families, or avoid getting pregnant as teenagers will live healthier, more prosperous lives, whether in developing countries or in the United States. This is one area of "common ground" that both sides of the abortion debate could agree upon -- a centrist message that last week's election results underscored. To argue that abstinence is the only acceptable route to family planning divides the country, ignores reality, and condemns millions of women to poorer lives.
The number of abortions done annually has risen under Bush's regime. This will only raise it further as both birth control methods themselves and education about them become more difficult for low-income and young women to obtain.
The irony in this would be funny if it wasn't so tragic.
Bush's anti-abortion actions actually increase abortions. Kinda like his War on Terrrrr increasing terrorism around the globe. [img]graemlins/hmmm.gif[/img]
<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">unfortunately there are lots of religious wingnuts who do have female plumbing who will support this guy.Originally posted by taragunner:
Oh, and availablity of birth control is demeaning to women?
But some religious wingnut who doesn't have female plumbing controlling what we do with our bodies isn't, huh?
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