Eric Keroack
Encyclopedia
Dr. Eric J. Keroack is an American obstetrician-gynecologist.
In late 2006, he was named as the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Population Affairs at the Department of Health and Human Services, the office that oversees federally funded teenage pregnancy
, family planning
, and abstinence programs
, using its $283 million annual budget.
The nomination of Keroack, an anti-contraceptive advocate, to a position responsible for ensuring low-income women get access to birth control has been criticized.
The Massachusetts native has faced criticism before, after making the claim that sex with multiple partners hurts women's ability to bond by altering their brain chemistry. He claims that premarital sex
suppresses the hormone oxytocin
, thereby impairing one's ability to forge a successful long-term relationship.
Before assuming his position with HHS on November 20, 2006, Keroack was the medical director of A Woman's Concern, a Christian nonprofit organization based in Dorchester, Massachusetts
. It runs six centers in the state that offer free pregnancy testing, ultrasounds and counseling and works to "help women escape the temptation and violence of abortion
." Its crisis pregnancy center
s oppose contraception
and do not distribute information concerning birth control.
In January 2007, Keroack received "two formal warnings from the Massachusetts board of medicine ordering him to refrain from prescribing drugs to people who are not his patients and from providing mental health counseling without proper training."
On March 29, 2007 Keroack resigned his position at HHS.
In late 2006, he was named as the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Population Affairs at the Department of Health and Human Services, the office that oversees federally funded teenage pregnancy
Teenage pregnancy
Teenage pregnancy is a pregnancy of a female under the age of 20 when the pregnancy ends. It generally refers to a female who is unmarried and usually refers to an unplanned pregnancy...
, family planning
Family planning
Family planning is the planning of when to have children, and the use of birth control and other techniques to implement such plans. Other techniques commonly used include sexuality education, prevention and management of sexually transmitted infections, pre-conception counseling and...
, and abstinence programs
Sexual abstinence
Sexual abstinence is the practice of refraining from some or all aspects of sexual activity for medical, psychological, legal, social, philosophical or religious reasons.Common reasons for practicing sexual abstinence include:*poor health - medical celibacy...
, using its $283 million annual budget.
The nomination of Keroack, an anti-contraceptive advocate, to a position responsible for ensuring low-income women get access to birth control has been criticized.
The Massachusetts native has faced criticism before, after making the claim that sex with multiple partners hurts women's ability to bond by altering their brain chemistry. He claims that premarital sex
Premarital sex
Premarital sex is sexual activity, including vaginal intercourse, oral sex, and anal sex, practiced by persons who are unmarried. Although it has always been practiced, in the West it has increased in prevalence since the mid-1950s...
suppresses the hormone oxytocin
Oxytocin
Oxytocin is a mammalian hormone that acts primarily as a neuromodulator in the brain.Oxytocin is best known for its roles in sexual reproduction, in particular during and after childbirth...
, thereby impairing one's ability to forge a successful long-term relationship.
Before assuming his position with HHS on November 20, 2006, Keroack was the medical director of A Woman's Concern, a Christian nonprofit organization based in Dorchester, Massachusetts
Dorchester, Massachusetts
Dorchester is a dissolved municipality and current neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It is named after the town of Dorchester in the English county of Dorset, from which Puritans emigrated and is today endearingly nicknamed "Dot" by its residents. Dorchester, including a large...
. It runs six centers in the state that offer free pregnancy testing, ultrasounds and counseling and works to "help women escape the temptation and violence of abortion
Abortion
Abortion is defined as the termination of pregnancy by the removal or expulsion from the uterus of a fetus or embryo prior to viability. An abortion can occur spontaneously, in which case it is usually called a miscarriage, or it can be purposely induced...
." Its crisis pregnancy center
Crisis pregnancy center
A crisis pregnancy center , sometimes called a pregnancy resource center , is a non-profit organization established to counsel pregnant women against having an abortion....
s oppose contraception
Contraception
Contraception is the prevention of the fusion of gametes during or after sexual activity. The term contraception is a contraction of contra, which means against, and the word conception, meaning fertilization...
and do not distribute information concerning birth control.
In January 2007, Keroack received "two formal warnings from the Massachusetts board of medicine ordering him to refrain from prescribing drugs to people who are not his patients and from providing mental health counseling without proper training."
On March 29, 2007 Keroack resigned his position at HHS.