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Thu 18 Oct, 2007 09:28 am
Birth-Control Foe To Run Office on Family Planning
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Washington Post Page A15
The Bush administration again has appointed a chief of family planning programs at the Department of Health and Human Services who has been critical of contraception.
Susan Orr, most recently an associate commissioner in the Administration for Children and Families, was appointed Monday to be acting deputy assistant secretary for population affairs. She will oversee $283 million in annual grants to provide low-income families and others with contraceptive services, counseling and preventive screenings.
Susan Orr, named head of HHS family planning programs, had worked at the conservative Family Research Council. (Department Of Health And Human Services)
In a 2001 article in The Washington Post, Orr applauded a Bush 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, then an official with the Family Research Council.
Critics panned the appointment last year of Eric Keroack, a physician who worked at a Christian pregnancy-counseling organization that opposed the use of birth control. He resigned in March.
"We have another appointment that just truly politicizes family planning," said Mary Jane Gallagher, president of the National Family Planning and Reproductive Health Association. "The last time I looked, both Republicans and Democrats used contraception in America."
HHS spokesman Kevin Schweers said Orr's "breadth of programmatic and managerial experience makes her highly qualified to serve as acting director."
Contraceptives Part Of The ?'Culture Of Death'
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."
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.
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UPDATE: Jill at Feministe points out that Orr has also referred to child protection as "the most intrusive arm of social services."
UDPATE II: Take action opposing Orr's nomination HERE.
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. [
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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.
I signed the petition to oppose her nomination. I am against abortion, but I strongly believe in contraception. The woman must be unhinged to label contraception as the "cultural of death." But what I most dislike and disapprove of about her is her attitude towards protecting children in abusive homes. It's despicable.
Quote:Dr. Orr herself authored a booklet called "Building a Culture of Life" for the organization. Her opposition to contraception may very well be tied to her disdain for single mothers and women who get divorced (she also wrote a paper called "Real Women Stay Married").
She also toes the "pro-life" line when it comes to born children ?- that is, she doesn't so much care about them.
Like domestic violence programs, child protection procedures blur the distinction between therapy and law enforcement, allowing social workers to exercise police functions. "Although spoken of in terms of social services," writes Susan Orr, "the child-protection function of child welfare is essentially a police action." Orr calls child protection "the most intrusive arm of social services."
She also promotes limiting definitions of abuse and neglect. And did I mention that she was the Associate Commissioner for the Children's Bureau of the Department of Health and Human Services when she was trying to limit the power to respond to child abuse?
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This woman was in charge of Child welfare?
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It's like Bush goes out of his way to get the worse people in positions they oppose just to sabatoge the programs.
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