Alert: Women and Men who Care!!

patio34

This is part of a fundamentalist "war" on women's rights, in my opinion. I'm trying to get the word out to as many people as I can.

This just came across my screen. Act as you need and share with others you believe have a similar concern:
___________________________________________________

Proposed FDA Appointment

Subject: FW: Proposed FDA Appointment

Please take a few minutes to respond to this as it may affect the quality of all our lives and the women we care for.

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 has 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 of setback 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 Women 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: Christian Appraisal of Sexuality Reproductive Technologies and the Family," Dr. Hager appears to have endorsed 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 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 [email protected] <http://us.f138.mail.yahoo.com/ym/[email protected]> and say "I oppose the appointment of Dr. Hager to the FDA Reproductive Health Drugs Advisory Committee. Mixing religion and medicine is unacceptable. Using the FDA to promote a political agenda is inappropriate and seriously threatens women's health."

This is one way of saying it:

President Bush:

I strongly oppose appointment of Dr. Hager to the FDA Reproductive Health Drugs Advisory Committee!

Mixing religion and medicine is not only unacceptable to millions of American women, it is unconstitutional!

Using the FDA to promote a political agenda is not only inappropriate, sexist and inherently undemocratic, it is immoral!

Rest assured that your action here is being carefully scrutinized by millions of American voters, male as well as female!

teenyuck

http://www.snopes.com/inboxer/outrage/hager.htm

Status: True.

Dr. Hager makes no bones about his beliefs but says they won't compromise his judgment: "Yes, I'm pro-life. But that's not going to keep me from objectively evaluating medication. I believe there are some safety concerns (about mifepristone) and they should be evaluated."
Contrary to the claim made in the now widely-circulated
e-mail decrying his appointment, Dr. Hager says he does not deny birth-control prescriptions to unmarried women. However, Time magazine reported that "In his private practice, two sources familiar with it say, Hager refuses to prescribe contraceptives to unmarried women."
The appointment is a done deal, and
Dr. Hager is now part of this committee (although, perhaps as a result of the controversy raised by this message, he was not appointed to chair the committee). Whether he can be objective remains to be seen.

Sounds like it is too late for us to complain....

Too bad.

patio34

Thanks Teenyuck for that update! That's very helpful and I'll pass it on to the people who sent it to me. At least maybe people will be more informed about President Bush's apparent agenda. -- Pat

Simon

he suggests that women who suffer from premenstrual syndrome should seek help from reading the Bible and praying.

Well, he's got that wrong ... it should be "when women suffer from premenstrual syndrome, you better pray hard !"

Joke: I have no real input on the real topic.

teenyuck

Well, he's got that wrong ... it should be "when women suffer from premenstrual syndrome, you better pray hard !"

All a man needs to go through once, is menstration, and he would understand......

happyout

So, all you people who defend Bush, and insist that he's not a right wing nutcase, stop listening to what he's yammering about, and look at his actions.

Scary.

Happyout

KGB

Hey People you women and men alike post on this board how much you love the Bush administration, well this is what you can expect from who you voted for. I do feel sorry for women and how they are treated but as long as you have that prick in office you can damn well expect things like this and people like that to control everything about us. You can expect the Bush administration to control every part of your lives, and if he is voted into office again ? Believe me he will......

rocky220

no Teeny-Yuck, all this Dr Hager needs is to go thru child birth, no anesthesia of any sort......and he'll be singing a different toon!

Rocky220 [from the sometimes self-righteous men need a spoon of their own medicine class]

borgfree

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.

In today's America, a totally qualified man is labeled a "dangerous and inappropriate candidate" because he is opposed to murdering unborn babies. Disgraceful.

Borgfree

jst2laws

Hello borgfree,

a totally qualified man is labeled a "dangerous and inappropriate candidate" because he is opposed to murdering unborn babies. Disgraceful.

As far as I'm concerned, his opinion on abortion is fine, but the basis for his opinion is what is dangerous. When a person makes moral judgments of others based on their conservative interpretation of the Bible or any other holy book you have a "dangerous and inappropriate candidate". If Bush stacked his government with this type person you would have the Christian Taliban in the US.

I am not in favor of abortion, borgfree. I am simply against religious fundamentalist influencing the government.

Jst2laws

Alert: Women and Men who Care!!

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