Appointment of Title X Overseer Raises Concerns
by Anna
Web Correspondent
Planned Parenthood Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota Action Fund
"Fertility is not a disease. It's not a medical necessity that you have [contraception]."
My first reaction when I saw this quote was laughter. Most people, myself included, are aware that fertility is not a disease, so telling us as much is not really necessary. Furthermore, many of us view contraception as a matter of reproductive health rights and not at all as a treatment for an illness, so this claim does not make much sense.
This is particularly disturbing because I would say that sense is vital in a person who oversees Title X, the national family planning program responsible for the preventative reproductive health care of over five million low-income citizens. And that is exactly who produced the aforementioned statement.
On October 15 President Bush and the Department of Health and Human Services appointed Susan Orr to the position of DASPA-Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary for Population Affairs, the post which oversees Title X, giving its holder substantial power over United States reproductive health policy.
Orr has numerous dazzling credentials to compliment her public speaking skills. She spent part of her career acting as the Senior Director for Marriage and Family Care for the Family Research Council, which has "advocated for limited access to contraception." Right now she is on the board of directors for the nonprofit Teen Choice, which emphasizes the importance and supposed effectiveness of abstinence-only education as opposed to comprehensive education.
Why someone who clearly does not support preventative reproductive health care would be put in charge of the nation's reproductive health care program is beyond me. Title X is not up for debate; it has already been implemented as policy. It therefore seems logical that its caretaker would, well, care for it.
Michael Leavitt, Secretary of Health and Human Services and one of the people who oversaw Orr's recent appointment, is already under considerable pressure from government officials and reproductive rights workers alike to rethink the decision, especially since Orr has "acting" status only and the Department of Health and Human Services can replace her with a permanent official at any time. Eight U.S. Representatives compiled a letter to Leavitt stressing that Orr's ideologies are out of line with the obligations of the job to which she has been appointed. The National Abortion Federation publicly denounced the appointment as well.
Whether this appointment was the consequence of a resume mix-up or a case of bad judgment, the DASPA position must be viewed as one rightfully belonging to a candidate with a strong understanding of preventative reproductive health care and family planning and who strongly supports these causes. The five million low-income and uninsured individuals who depend on Title X to help them prevent unwanted pregnancies deserve someone who will actually do what the job entails.
