The Nation on Hager's Family Values

The vile nature of this man and his policy goals just keep rising to the top of the headlines. Some days when I read about him I feel like he's the serial killer in a bad horror movie--one attack would be enough to leave you scared, several attacks will leave you horrified and disgusted, but the wretched excess continues.

The Nation's article discusses a minority report Hager claims he sent to the FDA upon their request, allegations made by his former wife of marital rape and sodomy over the course of seven years, his continuing role in the debate over emergency contraception, and his expected reappointment to the FDA panel after his term expires on June 30. The article concludes:

As disturbing as they are on their own, Linda Davis's allegations take on even more gravity in light of Hager's public role as a custodian of women's health. Some may argue that this is just a personal matter between a man and his former wife--a simple case of "he said, she said" with no public implications. That might be so--if there were no allegations of criminal conduct, if the alleged conduct did not bear any relevance to the public responsibilities of the person in question, and if the allegations themselves were not credible and independently corroborated. But given that this case fails all of those tests, the public has a right to call on Dr. David Hager to answer Linda Davis's charges before he is entrusted with another term. After all, few women would knowingly choose a sexual abuser as their gynecologist, and fewer still would likely be comfortable with the idea of letting one serve as a federal adviser on women's health issues.

Read the full article here.

Found via the ever-fabulous Bitch. Ph.D.

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More good news in the debate over EC: it appears to inhibit ovulation, but not implantation, according to a recent study by the Population Council's ICCR. (Link opens a PDF.) More reason to wonder: why, exactly, must Hager and his cronies scream so loudly over this medication?