Last week, I blogged about the FDA’s failure in dealing with the birth control patch. But it appears that this week, the FDA is under fire for making political rather than medical decisions.
The FDA has refused to allow the over-the-counter sale of Plan B or Morning after pills. Democrats charge that Bush officials interfered with the normal FDA processes and that the final decision was based on political rather than medical expediency. These claims are boosted by a recently released GAO report that makes a similar observation (the GAO can only report, not make charges.). As a Sacramento Bee Editorial said, “That conclusion is disturbing but hardly surprising. It fits into a pattern of behavior by this administration when it is confronted with science that doesn't conform with its political agenda. In repeated instances, from global warming policy to Plan B, science is shoved aside.”
If the charge is true, and I think it is, then we have yet another example of how much Christian conservatives dislike families, especially women and children.
They oppose abortion, but also oppose a way for women to avoid it altogether. They think women are too stupid to know when they can and can’t handle a baby, and they would force her to carry it for 8 months and go through the physical and psychological trauma of having it only to give it away. Either that, or get herself killed in a back alley. In addition, they cut programs that assist the poor, a vast majority of whom are women and a significant portion of that are single mothers.
They don’t care about the child because they would rather it be born and thrown into poorly run, overwrought state social service programs. They wack away at education spending and subsidized medical care that might prevent the child from entering into the same cycle as its parents.
It makes my blood boil. And at no time do these good Christians ever talk about the responsibility that the fathers of these children should bear.
If the FDA acted politically this time, did it also act politically in other cases? Does big Pharma get away with murder? Is it conservative values or huge campaign donations from pharma that are to blame? Is the FDA properly performing the public health mission that it is charged with?
5 comments:
I see in this an example of the Christian right's general attitude towards science. They see evolution as something based on belief systems no more (and actually less) valid than their own. Evolution is the cause celeb but they feel the same way about science in general. They oppose the scientific approach and they oppose the very idea of scientific inquiry. These are people for whom the universe is divided into the known and unknowable. In their view things like scientific studies and medical reviews of drugs are simply not needed. Whether a drug should be made available or not is a moral question not a scientific or public safety one.
// posted by Raised By Republicans
I think there are moral dimensions to questions of what drugs or medical procedures should be available. The problem here is not considering moral issues as a society, but about screwing with data and lying. Where ideologues are willing to lie to promote their goals, that is immoral and unacceptable. Ditto global warming. It's okay to argue that we should not be worried for moral reasons (if you can find any) but not fake data to avoid the problem.
// posted by LTG
To answer USWest, the FDA is plainly failing its public health mission by performing political services instead. I fully agree with USWest's sentiments on abortion and the utter hypocrisy of the let-the-government-make-the-choices crowd.
I didn't mean to imply that government decisions should be amoral. However substituting morality (which is subjective) for science (which is objective) or public safety (which is at least debatable on the basis of facts and reason) is a disaster in the making. That the direction that the GOP leadership is taking us.
// posted by Raised By Republicans
Here are some things you can do to help your child develop. Show your child that you care about him/her and that you are dependable. Children who feel loved are more likely to be confident. Your child must believe that, no matter what, someone will look out for him/her. Give your baby or toddler plenty of attention, encouragement, hugs and lap time. Set a good example. Children imitate what ever they see?
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