In an Op-Ed piece published in the Los Angeles Times, ASRM President, Dr. Richard Paulson, calls for the federal government’s lead health agency to be driven by science and data, and not by faith-based belief.

The op-ed, “Why the Department of Health and Human Services should stop saying life begins at conception,” was in response to a draft strategic plan the agency published to govern its activities over the next four years. ASRM submitted comments on the draft plan last week. Paulson takes issue with the fact that the HHS plan includes language that indicates the mission of the agency will be governed by a definition of life that is based on religion and not science and argues that as a government agency, its actions should be evidence-based, not faith-based. He calls for the “decidedly unscientific” language to be eliminated from HHS’ strategic plan.

To read the op-ed, click here.