Nov. 17 (CWNews.com) - President George W. Bush has appointed a physician with close ties to the pro-life movement to supervise federal family-planning programs.
 
 The President has named Dr. Eric Keroack to be the assistant secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services. In that post he will supervise the disbursement of $283 million in annual federal grants to family-planning programs.
 
 Keroack, a Massachusetts gynecologist, has been a pioneer in the use of ultrasound technology in crisis-pregnancy centers. He has developed a national reputation in the pro-life movement for his work in persuading women not to have abortions, and in discouraging pre-martial sexual activity.
 
 Prior to his appointment, Dr. Keroack had served as a medical director for crisis-pregnancy centers operated by A Women's Concern, a Massachusetts non-profit group that operates several crisis-pregnancy centers in the Boston area. The group-- which has won state and federal grants for abstinence education-- takes a firm stand against family-planning programs that encourage contraceptive use. The group's web site proclaims:
 
 A Woman's Concern is persuaded that the crass commercialization and distribution of birth control is demeaning to women, degrading of human sexuality and adverse to human health and happiness.
 [Disclosure: Phil Lawler, the editor of CWN, serves on the board of directors of A Woman's Concern.]