The Washington Post and The Nation report that, in an October sermon, renowned arch-conservative W. David Hager claimed credit for writing a report urging the FDA to override its scientific and medical advisory panels and block over-the-counter sales of the PLAN B morning-after pill. President Bush appointed Hager to the FDA advisory panel that reviewed the PLAN B petition. He was one of only four of the panel’s 27 members to oppose over-the-counter sales of the emergency contraceptive.

In the same speech, Hager bragged that the FDA’s rejection of the petition for over-the-counter sales of the morning-after pill marked only the second time in 50 years the FDA overruled its advisory panels.

"We'd long suspected that Hager was the driving force in the Bush Administration's decision to block easier access to the morning-after pill. Now we have proof, and it's time for him to go," said Nancy Keenan, president of NARAL Pro-Choice America. "Scientists, doctors and an overwhelming majority of Americans support giving women, especially survivors of sexual assault, access to the morning-after pill to prevent unintended pregnancies. But that’s not good enough. The FDA should approve over-the-counter access to the morning-after pill and release all the documents related to this decision. The public deserves to know how far the Bush Administration is willing to go to impose its opposition to birth control over all American women."

NARAL Pro-Choice America plans to file another request under the Freedom of Information Act for all documents showing contact between the FDA and the White House on this matter. In February 2004, NARAL Pro-Choice submitted a similar request, but FDA refused to comply.

DID WHITE HOUSE SECRETLY ASK FOR ‘MINORITY REPORT’?

In his sermon, Hager referred to being "asked" to write a minority report after the panel overwhelmingly approved over-the-counter access to the morning-after pill. The comments in his report formed the basis of FDA’s decision to override that medical and scientific recommendation. FDA officials say that the agency made no such request, raising the question of who sought out Hager’s intervention.

"The question that must be answered is which Bush Administration official intervened in the process to ask Dr. Hager to produce this report. Was Hager taking his orders from the same White House that recruited him to serve on the panel in the first place?" Keenan said.

NARAL Pro-Choice America is a national leader in this effort and first urged the FDA to give women better access to the morning-after pill almost five years ago. NARAL Pro-Choice America directed a recent campaign that generated thousands of messages from all 50 states to the FDA, asking the agency to listen to the recommendations of its scientific and medical review panels and approve this increased access to the morning-after pill.

News of Hager's sermon was released today by The Nation, along with troubling accusations by Dr. Hager's ex-wife that he physically and sexually abused her during the course of their marriage.