Washington, DC -- Prominent pro-abortion groups are attacking the record of a
Kentucky physician because of the possibility that he may be appointed to a
Food and Drug Administration advisory panel on women's reproductive health.
The abortion advocates are worried that David Hager, M.D., would use his
position on the panel to try to roll back FDA approval of the dangerous RU
486 abortion drug.

"We do have a litmus test, and that is respect for women," said Marjorie
Signer, spokeswoman for the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice,
explaining why the coalition opposes the appointment of Hager to the FDA's
11-member reproductive health drugs advisory committee.

It was that committee that helped review the safety and efficacy of RU-486
and subsequently recommended its approval to the Clinton administration FDA.

Now the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is reassembling the
committee to review the safety of hormone replacement drugs, with initial
meetings scheduled for Nov. 12 and 13. HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson is in
charge of making new committee appointments.

The Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice (RCRC) and allied groups like
the National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League (NARAL) and the
National Organization for Women (NOW) predict Hager would someday use his
committee post not only to try to roll back FDA approval of RU-486.

Hager is a University of Kentucky obstetrician/gynecologist who specializes
in the study of infectious diseases. But he's also openly Christian, promotes
abstinence before marriage, and opposes the use of RU-486.

Hager's future recommendations to the committee would not be scientifically
based, Signer predicts. "He would be raising [objections] based on his
religious beliefs about life, and what is permissible and not permissible.
But I don't call that religious," she said, correcting herself; it's
"ideological."

In September, pro-abortion Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.) also signaled that
abortion advocates were spoiling for a fight over Hager's appointment. In
written questions given to President Bush's nominee to head the FDA, Mark
McClellan, Kennedy asked McClellan whether he approved of Hager serving on
the advisory committee.

But Genevieve Wood, a Family Research Council spokesperson, said the FRC and
other pro-life groups are ready for yet another fight over Bush
administration appointments.

"The fact is [Hager has] really become the latest object of 'religious
profiling,'" said Wood. "You have people like Hillary Clinton and others out
there saying that they're scared of his faith and we shouldn't be moving
towards what she calls 'theology based science.'

"What it really means is you can be a good doctor but you can't be a
Christian ... and get appointed to the FDA," said Wood.

Wood called Hager "eminently well qualified for the position," rebutting
criticisms that he's "scantily qualified."

"Anyone who looks at his background can see that he's not only well
published, but he's very well thought of by colleagues throughout the country
in the medical community, especially when it comes to infectious diseases
[and] including sexually transmitted diseases," said Wood.

Pro-life groups have lobbied the Bush administration to re-open a review of
RU-486, and Wood believes the reproductive health advisory committee might
accommodate the request.

"There's no reason to believe that it couldn't come back again before the
committee, which is why you have people like Hillary and Planned Parenthood
and others coming out so adamantly against [Hager]," said Wood. "They're more
worried about keeping abortion on demand safe and legal than they are about
women's health."