WASHINGTON—Today the White House announced that Dr. Charmaine Yoest, former president of Americans United for Life, will serve as the assistant secretary of public affairs at the Department of Health and Human Services. People For the American Way Executive Vice President Marge Baker released the following statement:

“Charmaine Yoest has been a prime architect of the anti-choice movement’s campaign to regulate women’s clinics out of existence, a strategy that has disproportionately harmed rural women, low-income women, and women of color. She has argued that reproductive rights advocates are ‘the true misogynists in our society.’

“The fact that this fervent anti-choice activist will be helping lead an agency meant to safeguard the health of all Americans is another disturbing example of just how extreme and out-of-touch this administration is. President Trump continues to pander to the Religious Right at the expense of women’s health and women’s lives.”

People For the American Way is a progressive advocacy organization founded to fight right-wing extremism and defend constitutional values including free expression, religious liberty, equal justice under the law, and the right to meaningfully participate in our democracy.

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