Friday, November 17, 2006

New Head of National Family Planning Program is Anti-Family Planning -- HUH?

So just when you think that there is some hope that the Bush administration might get that the nation does not support their policies on sexuality issues (or the war or much else for that matter), something happens that makes you realize how out of touch they are. Yesterday, I blogged about the Catholic Bishops telling their married congregants not to use birth control.
Seems like the nation's family planning program could be headed in that direction as well. The Bush administration yesterday announced its appointment of Dr. Erik Keroack as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Population Affairs, the nation's official in charge of the national family planning program.
Here's part of the press release we put out:
"It is a cruel joke on low-income women in America who turn to the government for assistance with family planning services to place Dr. Erik Keroack in charge of the national Title X program.
Dr. Keroack is an anti-contraception advocate who has been serving as medical director of "A Women's Concern," an organization with an official policy that states "birth control...is demeaning to women, degrading of human sexuality, and averse to human health and happiness." The official mission of the organization is to discourage women from having abortions and learn "how to establish a vital relationship with Jesus Christ and His Church."
“The vast majority of religious denominations in the United States support the right of each family to decide when and whether to have children. The vast majority of people of faith in this country practice birth control use, which allows them to celebrate their sexuality with holiness and integrity.
"From a religious perspective, voluntary contraception allows women and families to nurture their children and their families. It is precisely because life and parenthood are so precious that we call for a faith based commitment to sexual and reproductive rights.”
By the way, this is a done deal. No confirmation hearings, no chance for change. Stay tuned to see what Dr. Keroack decides to do. Let's hope that the new Congress makes sure he understands that his job is to serve women and families not deny them sexual and reproductive health services.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Quick check to my calendar -- uh, no, it is not 4/1...our president is playing a cruel joke on women across the nation.

Anonymous said...

Try living in West Africa and teaching abstinence to young teenage girls (because if you work for the government that is now about all you are allowed to teach) when there is at least a 50% AIDS epidemic all while the local priest is trying to sleep with the same girls you are trying to teach abstinence to...... Dear God.....

Anonymous said...

Rev. Deb, to say that the Catholic Church tells its congregants not to use birth control is misinformation. They only oppose immoral methods of birth control. Natural Family Planning is a perfectly legitimate method of spacing or completely avoiding children in the eyes of the Church.

Debra W. Haffner said...

Dave, this is the head of the National Family Planning Program --the only way that low income women can obtain low cost contraception in this country. The program requires that ALL methods be provided.

On condoms, I can't begin to respond to your inaccuracies...but it's important for readers to know that using a condom is 10,000 times safer than not using a condom if sex is going to occur, condom or no condom. I refer readers to the National Institutes of Health consensus report.

Your comparison to Russian Roulette is just wrong. The effectiveness of condoms -- or any contraceptive -- is computed as number of women who get pregnant in a year of typical and perfect use. By your analogy, we would all get pregnant eventually whether a method was used or not. It's not the way statistics work.

Oh, and it's Debra...even my closest friends don't get to call me Deb or Debbie.