[NOW Actions] Sack Keroack -- the anti-contraception doctor!

Support NOW's Work |	November 18, 2006	| Tell a Friend

Action Needed Background All NOW Actions More About Reproductive Rights		Sack Keroack! Action Needed: As soon as you receive this message, regardless of the hour, please take action to stop anti-contraception doctor Eric Keroack from being put in charge of U.S. birth control funding. This "abstinence-only" fanatic who operates on the fringe of the medical community must NOT be put in charge of critical family planning policies and programs. Signing NOW's petition will send an instant email message to U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services, Mike Leavitt, urging him to withdraw Keroack's appointment or move Keroack to a different position where he cannot harm women and girls. Take Action Now! The recent appointment of Eric Keroack (more background below) to the position of Deputy Assistant Secretary for Populations Affairs is an embarrassment to the Bush Administration and to our nation. This position oversees $283 million that is "designed to provide access to contraceptive supplies and information to all who want and need them with priority given to low-income persons." No job is permanent. If we make our voices heard, we cannot be ignored. NOW will flood Mike Leavitt's office with your messages in the coming week to demonstrate our opposition to his appointment. It is again time to put pressure on the Bush administration to stop appointing far-right ideologues to key positions, the courts and every open position Bush can find. We cannot stand by as women's health and well-being are attacked. Please sign the petition today and then tell a friend. Take Action Now! Background: Dr. Eric Keroack has a long history of opposing contraceptive use, supporting ineffective abstinence-only educational programs, and working against women's right to choose abortion. He is the medical director of A Woman's Concern, an anti-contraception, anti-abortion network of "pregnancy counseling" centers based in Boston. His outrageous positions include the belief that "premarital sex is really modern germ warfare," and in a speech he made to the Annual Abstinence Leadership conference, he claimed promiscuous women are unable to form lasting relationships because they have used up all of their "bonding" hormones on casual sex, according to AlterNet. His "research" has been used to advance federal legislation that would fund expensive and obtrusive ultrasound machines at the deceptive clinics he calls "crisis pregnancy centers." Part of A Woman's Concern's "faith" statement is to "help women escape the temptation and violence of abortion." Their website also states that "A Woman's Concern is persuaded that the crass commercialization and distribution of birth control is demeaning to women, degrading of human sexuality and adverse to human health and happiness." Keroack's personal statements and beliefs directly counter the goals of Title X family planning programs, which help over five million low income women to have access to health care. By appointing Keroack to head family planning programs (which does not require Senate confirmation), the Bush Administration proves its continued mission to eradicate women's rights. NOW believes Dr. Keroack's views are in conflict with the Title X program, scientific research, and the millions of women who use contraceptives. Members of Congress are taking action: Read the letters by Senators and Representatives to Secretary Leavitt abo ut Keroack's appointment. Take Action Now!
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