Bush Surgeon General Pick Manipulated Medical Studies to Advance Anti-Gay Ideology

In the latest example of the Bush Administration putting an extreme right wing ideology ahead of sound science and public policy, President Bush nominated Dr. James Holsinger to serve as America’s next Surgeon General. Holsinger’s nomination to serve as the nation’s top doctor for the next four years comes despite his troubling record of manipulating medical studies to make ideologically-motivating, anti-gay arguments.

According to reports, Holsinger authored a paper outlining what he viewed as a medical argument for why homosexuality isn’t natural or healthy. Experts said the paper, used footnotes from mainstream medical publications to put “political ideology over science” and represented pre-1970s views on human sexuality. [ABCNews.com, 6/7/07] The report raises troubling questions about whether Holsinger can be trusted to put his partisan and ideological agenda aside and serve as a Surgeon General for all Americans.

President Bush’s selection of Holsinger to be America’s top doctor comes after his nomination of Henrietta Holsman Fore to lead the U.S. Agency for International Development despite a troubling record of racist remarks and stereotyping minorities. President Bush chose her to lead an agency responsible for distributing U.S. aid despite the fact that she was forced to resign as a trustee of Wellesley College after calling Hispanics “lazy” and claiming that African Americans were more interested in selling drugs than working. [New York Times, 2/12/87]

“By nominating a man who tried to use his medical background to espouse offensive and outdated notions to be America’s next Surgeon General, President Bush is continuing his disturbing pattern of promoting an extreme ideological agenda at the expense of the American people,” said Democratic National Committee spokesman Damien LaVera. “All Americans deserve a Surgeon General who they can trust to serve our country, not another right wing crony who will promote their extreme ideological agenda at all costs.”