Eric Keroack (previously posted here, here, and here) just resigned!
Eric Keroack (previously posted here, here, and here) just resigned!
Here is what PPFA President Cecile Richards had to say:
"It’s a good day for women’s health. Keroack was unqualified to run the nation’s family planning program. The Bush administration must replace Keroack with a legitimate, mainstream public health expert who supports family planning and access to birth control. More than 17 million women in our country need access to affordable birth control. The nation’s family planning program should be run by a champion for women’s health and safety."
You can bet there will be more coming shortly... stay tuned!
(cross posted at SaveRoe.com)
UPDATE: Here's the AP Story (thanks for finding that JekyllnHyde!)
UPDATE 2: (thanks for the suggestion, lrhoke)
here is some background on Eric Keroack
Much of the opposition to Keroack’s appointment stems from his previous role as medical director for A Woman’s Concern (AWC), a nonprofit group that runs six so-called "crisis pregnancy centers" in Massachusetts.. Under Keroack’s supervision, AWC health centers would not distribute, encourage the use of, or offer referrals for contraceptive drugs and devices. AWC states in its material that "the crass commercialization and distribution of birth control is demeaning to women, degrading of human sexuality and adverse to human health and happiness."
The group not only opposes contraception and abortion, it goes one step further — promoting misleading and deceptive reproductive health information. AWC’s materials incorrectly characterize traditional forms of birth control as abortifacients, wrongly claim that the distribution of contraception increases the number of pregnancies, and distort research to make false claims about condoms and HIV. The group also advances the myth that abortion increases a woman’s risk for breast cancer, despite scientific studies that have consistently shown otherwise.
And despite their masquerade as family planning clinics, the only "services" AWC "crisis pregnancy centers" provide are pregnancy tests and ultrasounds administered for the sole purpose of emotionally intimidating women into carrying unintended pregnancies to term. This type of biased counseling flies in the face of the Title X requirement that women facing an unintended pregnancy be provided nondirective options counseling upon request — meaning neutral, factual information on prenatal care and delivery; infant care, foster care or adoption; and pregnancy termination.
even more info here
2lucky found the Chron story on it - this elaborates:
Keroack told his staff in a letter Thursday that he became aware of action being taken against his private medical practice in Massachusetts. He said he immediately hired an attorney to initiate an appeal. He did not elaborate on why the action was taken.