NARAL Statement on Anti-Choice HHS Nominee Alex Azar

This morning, the Senate HELP Committee held a hearing on Alex Azar, Donald Trump’s anti-choice nominee for Secretary for the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). After Azar gave concerning answers about access to reproductive healthcare, including birth control, NARAL Pro-Choice America President Ilyse Hogue issued the following statement:

“Alex Azar is a man who used his position of power to undermine abortion access and the basic rights women need to be equal partners in society. His explicitly anti-choice record makes clear that he’ll use a position at HHS to further attack reproductive freedom. Donald Trump’s disdain for women knows no bounds, so his nomination of Azar to lead the department with so much power over our reproductive rights comes as no surprise. The Senate should use this opportunity to stand up to Donald Trump’s dangerous, backwards agenda and refuse to confirm Azar.”

Azar’s anti-choice record should concern all Americans. In a speech to the Islamic Medical Association of North America in Chicago, Alex Azar thanked the group for its “emphasis on protecting the health and well-being of the unborn” and stated it was a cause he is “committed to as well.” He is also an outspoken opponent of the ACA and has donated to many anti-choice politicians.