Women’s rights and pro-choice activists are still seething after President George W. Bush’s December appointment of a staunch anti-abortionist and proponent of religious methods in treatment to the Food and Drug Administration’s Reproductive Health Drugs Advisory Committee.
Dr. W. David Hager, a practicing OB/GYN in Kentucky, is known to refuse contraceptive prescriptions for unmarried women, recommend Bible scriptures as a solution to premenstrual syndrome and, most notably, recommend that the abortion drug, RU-486, be shelved.
Critics of Hager’s appointment say they worry his role on the committee, which advises the FDA on crucial reproductive issues, could have drastic effects on women’s rights.
The advisory committee has been inactive for the past two years, and is now being brought back into commission with Bush’s appointment of 11 new outside experts. Though the committee’s recommendations to the FDA are non-binding, members’ decisions are influential on the agency, said FDA spokesman Brad Stone.
Amy Allina, program director for the National Women’s Health Network, said her organization encourages the public to call upon the FDA to restrict Hager from any decision that would be swayed by his religious beliefs.
‘Our concern is that on this committee, as he has in his OB/GYN practice, Dr. Hager will be bringing his personal ideological beliefs to bear on the medical decision-making that he engages in,’ she said.
Susanne Martinez, vice president of public policy for Planned Parenthood, issued a statement attacking Hager’s theological position.
‘There is no place for such ‘theological gynecology’ on this important committee,’ Martinez said in the statement. ‘If appointed, his narrow, theologically based views on abortion and contraception will affect not only his patients but all women.’
Hager is a member of the Christian Medical Association, a national organization of doctors and dentists that encourages doctors to ‘ethically pray’ with their patients, according to Jennifer Pickel, a spokesperson for the CMA.
‘No one is advocating prayer instead of medicine,’ said Dr. David Stephens, executive director of the CMA, in a press release defending Hagar’s appointment.’We are advocating the integration of medical science and a patient’s faith as an important, scientifically proven factor in the healing process.’
Wendy Wright, senior policy director for Concerned Women for America, a religious public policy women’s organization, agreed, refuted critics’ attacks on Hager’s ability to remain neutral on women’s rights.
‘Our Founding Fathers felt so strongly about [religious freedom], they even included it in our constitution,’ she said.
Wright said past committees have been skewed by ‘ideologically leftists,’ and Hager’s contributions will reflect the opinions of most Americans.
However, Allina said the NWHN’s protest campaign has generated more than 10,000 emails from concerned women, and the outcry led to a change in his appointment from chairman to member.
Terry O’Neill, vice president of membership for the National Organization for Women, said she questioned Hager’s use of faith healing.
‘What I want to know is, does George W. Bush propose to put a guy who proposes prayer for prostate cancer,’ she said. ‘I would like to challenge the president to advocate faith-healing for men’s issues.’
Among NOW’s concerns is Hager’s pivotal role in the ‘Citizens Petition,’ which joined the CMA and Concerned Women for America to request the FDA’s removal of the abortion drug RU-486. The advisory committee on which Hager now serves was initially responsible for approving the drug.
Although women’s rights groups have been vocal in their opposition of Hager’s appointment, Stone said advisory committee members undergo a thorough screening process to eliminate any conflicts of interest, but a variety of religious opinions is essential.
‘The committee looks at the scientific and numerical credentials for the people who make the decisions,’ Stone said, ‘and he has the credentials to be a member of the committee.’
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