WASHINGTON, U.S.A. June 29, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – 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. mw