Bush pick threatens women's health

[flamingyouth]

ROBERTA RILEY
GUEST COLUMNIST

Last week, as most Americans busily prepared for Thanksgiving, President Bush chose another extremist ideologue to a powerful post. To lead Title X, the nation's family planning program, Bush selected Eric Keroack, a fanatic who doesn't believe in birth control. Keroack is notorious for peddling bad science to spin his anti-sex education, anti-contraception hardliner views.

Keroack is currently the medical director for A Woman's Concern, a network of so-called Christian "crisis pregnancy health centers" in the greater Boston area. In addition to their strict anti-choice policies, under Keroack's supervision, AWC health centers will not even distribute, encourage the use of or offer referrals for contraceptive drugs and devices.

Advocating abstinence until marriage, Keroack and his group are even opposed to dispensing contraception to married women! Instead, their Web site describes contraception as "demeaning to women" and "adverse to human health and happiness."

Given that the vast majority of American women welcome and use contraception, the White House searched high and low to find someone with such crazy views. It's an obvious effort to placate Bush's ultra right-wing base, which is still smarting from the recent election results.

more: http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/294293_riley01.html

Roberta Riley is consulting counsel for legal and international affairs of Planned Parenthood of Western Washington.