Politics Trumps Science in Condom Fact Sheet, Democrats Say

Fourteen Democratic members of Congress accused the Bush administration Wednesday of playing politics with a new government fact sheet on condom use, eliminating key information that they say could help people make informed decisions.

Led by Rep. Henry A. Waxman of Los Angeles, the lawmakers said the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention omitted instructions on how to properly use a condom and studies showing that condom education does not promote earlier sexual activity among young people.

Those topics were covered in the last condom fact sheet, created in 1996 during the Democratic Clinton administration.

In a letter to Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy G. Thompson, the members of Congress wrote:

“The apparent purpose of these alterations and deletions is to remove information that conflicts with the administration’s preference for ‘abstinence-only’ programs.”

Other Californians who signed the letter include Reps. Pete Stark of Fremont, Diane Watson of Los Angeles, Sam Farr of Carmel and Lucille Roybal-Allard of Los Angeles.

One HHS official said the fact sheets were designed to present the most current scientific information available and to present both sides of the debate. He added, however, that “how it’s viewed is in the eyes of the beholder.”

Waxman chided the Bush administration in October for removing the condom fact sheet from its Web site for more than 1 1/2 years while officials updated it. He said he has not been satisfied with the explanations he has received from Thompson.

“I think this is an Orwellian trend at HHS,” Waxman said in an interview. “Information that used to be based on science is being systemically removed from the public.”

AIDS advocates said the new condom fact sheet does not appear to contain inaccurate scientific information. Rather, they said, it offers far more information on specific sexually transmitted diseases than the previous version.

But it doesn’t help people make informed choices on condom use, said Terje Anderson, executive director of the National Assn. of People With AIDS.

“There’s a squeamishness about talking honestly about these issues, and I think that’s very political,” he said.

Waxman and his colleagues also questioned why a second fact sheet -- about the alleged link between abortion and breast cancer -- was altered by the National Cancer Institute.

The previous version said women who have abortions have “the same risk as other women for developing breast cancer.” The updated fact sheet now says the studies are inconsistent.

The American Cancer Society has declared there is no conclusive evidence linking abortion and breast cancer. Its experts contend that the studies suggesting such a link are flawed.

HHS officials said the fact sheets were written by scientists, not politicians, and are based on the best scientific information available.