President Bush’s newly appointed chief for the Office of Population Affairs at the federal Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) had his first official day of work on Nov. 20, much to the dismay of pro-choice and family planning advocates across the country. In his new position, Dr. Eric Keroack will oversee the use of $313 million to provide access to contraception and reproductive health information, especially to low income citizens. Ironically, Dr. Keroack happens to be an outspoken supporter of abstinence as the primary means of family planning.
Before his appointment to the position, Dr. Keroack served as medical director for A Woman’s Concern, a Massachusetts-based, Christian non-profit group that specializes in pregnancy counseling for young women. The group encourages sexual abstinence until marriage, opposes contraception and does not provide any information regarding birth control in any of its offices. On Nov. 17, their Website read, “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,” according to the Washington Post.
Based on his outspoken ideological positions on family planning issues, Keroack is obviously a very poor choice to head the Office of Population Affairs, which is responsible for funding birth control, pregnancy testing and screenings for sexually transmitted diseased nationwide. Last Wednesday, 14 Democratic senators issued a letter to the Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt urging him to withdraw Keroack’s appointment.
In an attempt to defend the appointment, Department of Health and Human Services spokespeople have issued statements communicating that Keroack has indeed prescribed birth control for his patients while in practice as an obstetrician-gynecologist. Considering his work at A Woman’s Concern and his speeches at national Abstinence Leadership Conferences, this hypocrisy actually damages his credibility as a public health official.
Our fundamental concern with Dr. Keroack as the head of the Office of Population Affairs at the Department of Health and Human Services is that he will use the position to advance his own personal causes against abortion rights and even more frighteningly, against the availability of responsible contraceptive measures as a way to promote safer sex and to foster conscious family planning. Dr. Keroack’s represented belief that abstinence is the true answer to sound family planning is not a realistic approach to this issue for the American people. Furthermore, while HHS officials have defended Dr. Keroack’s appointment by citing his expertise, he is not even currently certified as a obstetrician-gynecologist.
On a larger political scale, this irresponsible appointment represents further hypocrisy from the Bush Administration following the November midterm elections. While Bush vowed to try and put partisan issues aside and work with Democrats towards effective policy and legislation after their congressional takeover, this move is an obvious move in the opposite direction that we do not support as advocates of choice and responsible family planning and safe sex practices.