[NYTr] Bush Family Planning Appointee Called Contraceptives Part of the ‘Culture of Death’

[All the News That Doesn't Fit]

Think Progress - Oct 17, 2007
http://thinkprogress.org/2007/10/17/susan-orr/


Bush Family Planning Appointee Called Contraceptives 
Part of the ‘Culture Of Death’

On Monday, President Bush appointed Susan Orr to oversee federal
family planning programs at the Department of Health and Human Services
(HHS). Orr, who is currently directing HHS child welfare programs, was
touted by the administration as “highly qualified.”

But a look at Orr’s record shows that her strongest qualifications
appear to be her right-wing credentials and endorsement of the Bush
administration’s failed abstinence-only policies. Before joining HHS,
Orr served as senior director for marriage and family care at the
conservative Family Research Council and was an adjunct professor at
Pat Robertson’s Regent University. Some highlights:

    – In a 2001, Orr embraced a Bush administration proposal to “stop
requiring all health insurance plans for federal employees” to cover a
broad range of birth control. “We’re quite pleased, because fertility
is not a disease,” said Orr.

    – At the 2001 Conservative Political Action Conference, Orr cheered
Bush’s endorsement of Reagan’s “Mexico City Policy,” which required
NGOs receiving federal funds to “neither perform nor actively promote
abortion as a method of family planning in other nations.” Orr said
that it was proof Bush was pro-life “in his heart.”

    – In a 2000 Weekly Standard article, Orr railed against requiring
health insurance plans to cover contraceptives. “It’s not about
choice,” said Orr. “It’s not about health care. It’s about making
everyone collaborators with the culture of death.”

    – Orr authored a paper in 2000 titled, “Real Women Stay Married.”
In it she wrote that women should “think about focusing our eyes, not
upon ourselves, but upon the families we form through marriage.”
http://www.doesgodexist.org/MayJun01/RealWomenStayMarried.html

As Steve Benen notes, the office of family planning carries tremendous
importance. Orr will “oversee HHS’s $283 million reproductive-health
program, a $30 million program that encourages abstinence among
teenagers, and HHS’s Office of Population Affairs, which funds birth
control, pregnancy tests, counseling, and screenings for sexually
transmitted diseases and HIV.”

Last year, President Bush appointed Eric Keroack to oversee the office.
Keroack had previously worked for a Christian pregnancy counseling
group that opposes contraception. He stepped down in March over ethical
problems.

UPDATE: Jill at Feministe points out that Orr has also referred to
child protection as “the most intrusive arm of social services.”
http://www.feministe.us/blog/archives/2007/10/17/birth-control-foe-to-run-office-on-family-planning/

UDPATE II: Take action opposing Orr’s nomination HERE.
http://www.ppaction.org/campaign/oppose_orr/

UPDATE III: Statement on Orr from Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA):

"This appointment is absurd. Dr. Orr’s support of unproven
abstinence-only programs would in itself raise flags about her
commitment to comprehensive family planning for low-income girls and
women. But in 2000, Dr. Orr said that requiring insurers to cover
family planning supplies and services -- a policy that promotes access
to contraception in many states and the federal employee health
program -- is “about making everyone collaborators with the culture of
death.” This leaves little doubt about where she has stood on
contraception access. [...]

"I’m no longer surprised by this kind of decision -- ideology firmly
holds the reins over reproductive health in this White House. But this
lack of commitment to comprehensive reproductive health, combined with
cramped budgets, is an insult and a disservice to the millions of
low-income people who rely on Title X for family planning and
preventive health services."