Given the wording of the "Pledge of Allegiance" :-
"....one nation, under God......" can it still be possible to claim there is a seperation of State and Church in the US?
Of course it's worth noting that I'm in the UK where we have 24 Anglican bishops who sit in the upper house of parliament.
Now there's a hill to climb!
Science or Politics at the F.D.A.?
Published: February 24, 2004
In December, two advisory committees to the Food and Drug Administration voted by a 23-to-4 margin to recommend that the agency allow sales of the "morning after" pill without a doctor's prescription. That raised hopes that the agency would promptly approve the change, which would remove a medically unnecessary barrier to obtaining a drug that can help prevent unwanted pregnancies and make abortions less common.
Unfortunately, the latest rumbling from the F.D.A. is not reassuring.
The agency now says it needs an additional 90 days to decide whether to allow timely access to the emergency contraceptive, known as Plan B, by granting over-the-counter status.
Ordinarily, a three-month delay might not be worrisome. But the change faces significant organized opposition from the religious and political right, and the Bush administration has shown a propensity to elevate its ideology and perceived political needs over scientific research, especially when it comes to matters touching on women's health and abortion.
Some 49 Republican members of Congress recently signed a letter to President Bush that argued for the retention of the prescription requirement, citing concerns that removing it might lead to greater promiscuity and sexual risk-taking among teenagers. Those concerns were considered and overwhelmingly rejected by the agency's expert panels as unsupported by existing studies, common sense and real-world experience.
Most worrisome, though, is the likely imminent departure of the F.D.A. commissioner, Dr. Mark McClellan, who was nominated by President Bush last week to run the federal Medicaid and Medicare programs. He should act to approve over-the-counter sales of Plan B before departing, fulfilling his duty to respond to medical evidence, rather than election-year pressure.
For Dr. McClellan to toss this politically thorny but medically clear-cut issue to an interim replacement would hurt not just women, but also the federal drug agency's reputation for scientific integrity, and his own.
In this administration the politics of religion is the ruling principle. The steady capture of the government by the religious right will continue as long as Gods messenger or false Prophet remains in the White House.
