Surgeon General's Warning by Mike Stobbe

Author:Mike Stobbe
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780520272293
Publisher: University of California Press

JOYCELYN ELDERS

The selection of Joycelyn Elders as the next surgeon general hit conservatives like a stomach punch. An outspoken liberal who had endorsed providing condoms in schools, Elders once said abortion opponents needed to “get over their love affair with the fetus,” during a January 1992 appearance at a pro-choice rally. “It’s ominous to see her in a position of so much authority,” said Wanda Franz, president of the National Right to Life Committee, in an interview with the Washington Post the day after Elders’s name surfaced as Novello’s proposed replacement.41

More than any other person who has worn the surgeon general’s uniform, Elders was a polarizing figure. People either prized her for voicing what no other health official would dare say about controversial issues . . . or they detested her for it. She continually generated controversy and media attention, and forces on the right end of the political spectrum vilified her. Conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh ridiculed her on an almost weekly basis.

Elders endured a stormy confirmation process, and ended up serving less than fifteen months—the shortest term of any surgeon general. But in that limited time she became one of the most famous, and nearly two decades later ranks second only to Koop in name recognition, according to many of the Public Health Service veterans and advocates interviewed for this book.

What made her memorable was also her undoing. She directly, frankly, and impolitically answered questions about the legalization of drugs and about masturbation that gave her enemies artillery-grade ammunition. Elders had her science right, but she did not sound like a white-coated medical expert simply stating the facts; she was more like an advocate begging for a fight.

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