Brett Paul Giroir worked in health care, academia and the pharmaceutical industry prior to joining HHS.
Giroir’s role includes oversight of the Office of Population Affairs (OPA) as well as the Office of Adolescent Health, meaning it oversees the Department of Health and Human Services' (HHS) efforts to fundamentally change the Title X and Teen Pregnancy Prevention Programs at the behest of anti-abortion advocates. During Giroir’s Senate confirmation process, Sen. Patty Murray said she was “unconvinced Dr. Giroir would be willing to stand up to this administration’s ideological attacks on women.” Politico has since reported that Giroir is leading HHS’s September 2018 shift to limit fetal tissue research, and he has said the agency will likely cancel the research, which is fundamental to discovering lifesaving vaccines and researching cures for diseases including HIV, Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s.
At HHS, Giroir oversees the Trump administration’s efforts to make it harder for low-income women to access birth control and helps limit its efforts to prevent teen pregnancy and conduct research on lifesaving vaccines.
Giroir supports anti-abortion Texas State Senator Charles Schwertner. Girior made a campaign contribution to Schwertner and repeatedly tweeted praise regarding legislative collaborations. Schwertner has a history of anti-abortion ideology and legislation; he was the primary author of the extreme SB-8 bill, which required the burial or cremation of a woman’s embryonic or fetal tissue and banned dilation/evacuation abortions. In February 2017, Schwertner smashed a glass table during a committee hearing to silence a young woman testifying against an anti-abortion bill.
In 2009, then-Governor of Texas Rick Perry reportedly influenced the Giroir’s recruiting for a top position in the Texas A&M University System. In 2014, Giroir stood with Perry at a news conference where he publicly asked President Obama to ban air travel from West African countries fighting Ebola outbreaks. Giroir has been an ardent supporter of Perry’s over the years, despite funding conflicts. Perry holds extreme anti-abortion views he has wielded to restrict Texas women’s right to choose; for example, he signed House Bill 2, one of the nation’s strictest abortion-restricting bills, into law in 2013 after Sen. Wendy Davis filibustered it for 11 hours.