Contact: Jennifer Fedor, Concerned Women for America, 202-488-7000 ext. 126

WASHINGTON, July 12 /Standard Newswire/ -- This morning Senate hearings will begin for Dr. James Holsinger, President Bush's nominee for Surgeon General.  Holsinger's nomination has become unfairly politicized due to both his medical findings on homosexual behavior and his religious beliefs.  While Concerned Women for America (CWA) takes no position on his nomination, we do believe that it is inappropriate and unconstitutional to subject Dr. Holsinger to a religious litmus test. 

Holsinger's findings on male homosexual behaviors are medically sound and are supported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).  He has unapologetically stated that homosexual behavior is "unnatural" and "unhealthy" and runs counter to natural human biological design.

Matt Barber, CWA's Policy Director for Cultural Issues, said, "It is both inappropriate and unconstitutional for the Senate to require that any nominee pass an anti-Christian religious litmus test based upon the demands of extremist left-wing special interest groups.  In the past, Dr. Holsinger has objectively placed scientific substance over political correctness relative to the high-risk nature of homosexual behaviors.  The determinations he and numerous other medical experts have reached are completely in line with the findings of the CDC.  The CDC has documented that people who engage in homosexual behavior - by far - are at highest risk for devastating and often deadly sexually transmitted diseases.  Will liberals now call for the CDC to be shut-down because the medical facts undermine their political agenda?  Essentially what these radical special interest groups and like-minded senators are saying is that Christians need not apply for public service.  This is both hateful and discriminatory."

Concerned Women for America is the nation’s largest public policy women’s organization.