Pro-Abortion Groups Attempt to Shut Pro-life Doctor out of FDA Panel


George W. Bush's reappointment of pro-life obstetrician and specialist on infectious diseases of pregnancy and childbirth, Dr. W. David Hager, has garnered serious yet unfounded criticism from various pro-abortion groups.

A bipartisan group of representatives has sent a letter to President Bush regarding the reappointment, claiming that Dr. Hager is unfit to serve on the advisory panel based exclusively on his pro-life stance and his role as one of the four panel members who voted to recommend against approving non-prescription sales of the potentially harmful abortifacient morning-after pill “Plan B.”

Scott Spear, national medical committee chairman of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, made similar disingenuous claims regarding Dr. Hager, “Dr. Hager's ideological agenda compromises the scientific integrity of the FDA.”

Commenting on these and several other scandalous allegations against Dr. Hager on the part of various pro-abortion groups, David Stevens, executive director of the Christian Medical Association, has said, “His character has been assassinated by pro-abortion groups and by the media…I would hope that he is reappointed because he is a man of science and a man of faith, and that's an important combination to have on one of these committees. Being an atheist or an agnostic shouldn't be a requirement to serve.”

In an interview with LifeSiteNews.com regarding this issue, Joseph DeFeo, Associate Director of Communication for the U.S. Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, said that, “This is just another attempt to shut pro-lifers out of public office. The opposition to Dr. Hager is disingenuous.” The use of the phrase “personal beliefs” in reference to Dr. Hager by pro-abortion groups, “only refers to pro-life beliefs,” he told LifeSiteNews.com.

Also, Alabama Forcing Pro-lifers out of State Health with Mandatory Abortifacient Policy

New public health directives in Alabama are forcing pro-lifers to either deny their beliefs or lose their jobs. State officials recently issued a regulation that forces all clinics in the state to offer the abortifacient morning-after pill.

Christian Coalition of Alabama (CCA) notes, “We have been contacted by at least a half dozen women who were forced to either distribute the pills or face disciplinary action. Several other employees, still working for the Alabama Department of Public Health (ADPH), contacted us as well about their opposition to distributing the pills.”

Last week, Fox News Channel interviewed Lenita Akles and Linda Bell (former Health Department employees) who felt they had no options except to resign or obey this mandate.

Lenita Akles, ADPH Nursing Supervisor for Calhoun County, said the following, “After 13 years of working with the state, which was my dream come true job, I was forced to make a choice between my Christian faith and my job as a nursing supervisor.” Linda Bell, a nurse in Montgomery said, “I was only given one choice: follow the mandated protocol. This was something I could not do because it violated my Christian principles.”

CCA has demanded Health Department officials rescind the mandated order requiring Alabama State Health Department Employees to give counsel and distribute MAPs at taxpayers' expense.

(This update courtesy of LifeSiteNews.com.)

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