12.7.20 — Reaction from Molly Bangs, Director Equity Forward, to the announcement of Xavier Becerra for Health and Human Services Secretary:
"HHS Secretary, probably more than any other in the administration, has the greatest impact on the life and death of people in America. While we tend to focus on the Secretary's role in overseeing health care systems, from the Affordable Care Act to Medicare and Medicaid to the current pandemic, HHS is a massive agency that demands a leader who will truly protect the health and well-being of everyone — especially those who are most vulnerable.
This position demands someone who is the polar opposite of Secretary Alex Azar, who enabled the atrocities committed to the separated children who were neglected by the Office of Refugee Resettlement, weaponized religious refusal laws against LGBTQ and trans people, and decimated the national family planning program. Xavier Becerra has a documented history of supporting access to reproductive health care and gender protections. We hope, and have every reason to believe, that Becerra as HHS Secretary isn't just going to repair the destruction caused by Azar but take leaps and bounds forward to equitable health care in America."
Equity Forward will be providing a detailed and critical look at Becerra’s record, especially where it relates to gender, reproductive health, human rights, racial equity, and LGBTQ protections, along with other Biden-Harris appointments. Research is being continuously compiled and updated on its website.
Equity Forward is a watchdog project that seeks to ensure transparency and accountability among anti-reproductive health groups and individuals who are actively working to deny people access to services such as birth control and abortion.