“A growing number of cases provide evidence that actions directly affecting the public health are being driven by ideology rather than science,” the letter charges, referencing HHS’s efforts to stack scientific advisory committees with conservative ideologues and industry allies, including, most recently, a panel on childhood lead poisoning.
Waxman’s letter specifically cites the removal of information from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) web site that debunks a commonly held myth that abortion increases the risk of breast cancer. Congressional representatives wrote to Thompson on July 9 seeking an explanation, but have thus far received no response.
In addition, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has removed information from its web site about educational programs that have proven effective in reducing risky behavior among adolescents, as well as fact sheets regarding the effectiveness of condoms in preventing sexually transmitted diseases.
Meanwhile, HHS appears to be using financial audits as a political tool to harass nonprofit organizations receiving HHS money that provide comprehensive sex education and do not subscribe to the administration's "abstinence only" program, according to the letter, which asks for more information on the audits. “To our knowledge, no ‘abstinence only’ organizations are being audited,” the representatives write.
The letter also refers to recent reports that the Bush administration “wants to appoint as Chair of the FDA’s important Reproductive Health Drugs Advisory Committee a physician whose most notable contribution to the field of reproductive health is a book recommending the reading of specific Biblical texts as treatments for various conditions, and who is reported to have refused to prescribe contraceptives for unmarried women.”
Administration officials defended their actions in a recent article in the Washington Post.