K. Lo and Hager the Horrible
By Via Dan Kennedy, a blast from the past from Kathryn Jean Lopez, who argues that poor David Hager was being discriminated against for religious reasons, but of course would never allow his beliefs to get in the way of his scientific responsibilities. I think it’s safe to declare this assertion inoperative. Also note this part of the defense:
Dr. W. David Hager, a doctor and professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Kentucky, was the subject of a piece in Time magazine by Karen Tumulty titled “Jesus and the FDA.” Dr. Hager, it would seem, is a “Jesus freak” (my words, not Tumulty’s) who wants to reverse Roe v. Wade by questioning a drug treatment that appears to be dangerous, refuses to prescribe birth control to unmarried women, and, actually, would rather have his patients pray and wait for Divine intervention than medically act to treat disease.
[…]
…as sober colleagues explain Hager’s now-controversial birth-control position, many doctors discuss the danger of having more than one sex partner with unmarried patients before prescribing birth control-but in the end many, if not most, prescribe it.
Oh well, as long as only some of the doctors who feel it’s their place to give religious lectures to their patients refuse to prescribe them birth control, that’s OK then! As for Tumulty’s point that Hager prescribes scripture readings for illnesses, Lopez responds with the classic non sequitur that patients support their doctors having a belief system. Needless to say, a doctor can have religious convictions without believing in religious cures. His ex-wife’s assesment of his medical credentials seems more accruate:
Sex was always a source of conflict in the marriage. Though it wasn’t emotionally satisfying for her, Davis says she soon learned that sex could “buy” peace with Hager after a long day of arguing, or insure his forgiveness after she spent too much money. “Sex was coinage; it was a commodity,” she said. Sometimes Hager would blithely shift from vaginal to anal sex. Davis protested. “He would say, ‘Oh, I didn’t mean to have anal sex with you; I can’t feel the difference,'” Davis recalls incredulously. “And I would say, ‘Well then, you’re in the wrong business.'”
Anyway, we can now safely say that Hager’s critics were entirely correct. As Kennedy suggests, perhaps K. Lo will do a follow-up, although she is admittedly preoccupied with weightier matters at the current time. (Although, in fairness, I have to give her this: she’s certainly right about CNN’s atrocious around-the-blogs segment.)