There is so much media coverage and conversation going on about new Department of Health & Human Services appointee Dr. Eric Keroack that we figured it might be more helpful to provide a round-up than it would be to add to the fray. Read on to catch up on what's being said about the new director of the federal family planning program:

Editorials

• The New York Times calls Keroack's appointment a "Family Planning Farce." The first line of the article: "It sounds like a late-night parody of President Bush's bad habit of filling key posts with extreme ideologues and incompetents." It could be, but this isn't SNL: the new director of Title X family planning dollars doesn't appear to believe in birth control.
• The Washington Post's editorial was entitled, "To Oversee Family Planning: Someone Whose Clinics Won't Offer It."
• The Boston Globe's "Not Family Friendly" asserts that while Keroack's appointment should not be a total surprise to anyone who has followed this administration, "to name an opponent of family planning to oversee the nation's family planning program is perverse even by the standards of a government that doesn't much believe in government."

Blogs

• Andrew Sullivan is on it, likely as part of his mission to "save the conservative soul." He notes that Keroack believes that sex causes brain damage. (Most reproductive health advocates have been shocked enough to learn about his stance on birth control. It doesn't stop there.)
• Jessica Valenti of Feministing notes that Keroack is not a board-certified doctor. Apparently this isn't a technical qualification for the job though. Wikipedia's entry for Dr. Keroack follows suit: as of the time of this writing, the first line reads that "Dr. Eric J. Keroack is an American non-board certified obstetrician-gynecologist."

Congress

• Both Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA) and Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) spearheaded letters to the administration requesting that the decision to appoint Keroack be reconsidered.

Take Action

• NARAL Pro-Choice America is asking constituents to campaign to "reconsider this appointment" because "Keroack has dedicated his career to telling women that birth control and abortion are wrong."
• Planned Parenthood, via its SaveROE.com blog, is running a similar campaign to tell HHS Secretary Leavitt that an "Anti-Birth Control Appointee Is a Bad Choice."

Check them out! We'll keep you posted.