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Opinion

Bush makes poor choice for family-planning head

Robyn Morrow 
Opinion Columnist

Ignoring promises to encourage bipartisanship, President Bush has nominated a conservative pro-life advocate to head the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Population Affairs.

As head of this office, Dr. Eric Keroack will oversee $283 million in funding for family planning programs that "are designed to provide access to contraceptive supplies and information to all who want and need them …," the Washington Post reported. Keroack will also oversee a $30 million abstinence-only sex education program for adolescents.

Before accepting this position, Keroack served as medical director at A Woman's Concern, a non-profit organization in Dorchester, Mass., which promotes abstinence-only sex education training and refuses to distribute information encouraging birth control usage. The Christian pregnancy-counseling association regards contraception distribution as "demeaning to women," the Washington Post reported.

Keroack, an obstetrician-gynecologist, also ran his private practice while working with A Woman's Concern but is not currently a board-certified OB/GYN. Although board certification is not a requirement for this position, HHS officials defended Bush's choice by citing Keroack's reproductive know-how.

Keroack's appointment further shows the Bush administration's lack of regard for Americans' priorities. In the Annenberg National Health Communication Survey offered between July 2005 and Jan. 2006, 82 percent of the nearly 1,110 adults surveyed supported comprehensive sex education programs that discuss contraception and abstinence as ways to avoid pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases.

Keroack is a well-known advocate of abstinence-until-marriage programs, some of which are rife with inaccuracies. According to a 2004 report by Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., these programs often claim HIV can be spread through contact with sweat and tears; these programs also erroneously claim condoms fail to protect against HIV as frequently as 31 percent of the time in heterosexual intercourse. Keroack, with his biased view on sex education, is a poor choice to advise Sec. Mike Leavitt on matters concerning adolescent pregnancy and reproductive health. 

Keroack's appointment, which does not require Senate confirmation, is another move to protect conservatives' clout since Democrats gained control of Congress earlier this month. Last week, Bush encouraged the Senate confirmation of John R. Bolton as ambassador to the United Nations -- a nomination Democrats had fiercely opposed in the past -- and nominated six appellate court judge candidates whose confirmations were formerly blocked by lawmakers. Bush seems to have forgotten his post-election pledge to promote bipartisanship.

Rather than push a conservative agenda, the Bush administration should look to unite Congress to create better policy for all Americans, not just those who support an out-of-touch administration.

Morrow, a communication senior and Opinion editor, 
can be reached at  dccampus@mail.uh.edu