The Trump administration has allegedly barred top federal health officials from using seven words or phrases relating to abortion, sexuality and science in official documents, according to The Washington Post, which cited an anonymous whistleblower. The words are “fetus,” “entitlement,” “vulnerable,” “diversity,” “transgender,” “evidence-based” and “science-based.” In some cases, the analysts were reportedly given replacement phrases to use instead. We speak with Rush Holt, chief executive officer of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and executive publisher of the Science family of journals. We also speak with Jack Halberstam, professor of English and gender studies at Columbia University.
TRANSCRIPT
AMY GOODMAN: This is Democracy Now! I’m Amy Goodman, with Juan González.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: Well, we end today’s show looking at the controversy around a decision reportedly taken by the Trump administration to bar top federal health officials from using seven words or phrases relating to abortion, sexuality and science in official documents. The Washington Post broke the news Friday, citing an anonymous whistleblower who says policy analysts at the Centers for Disease Control were told of the banned words at a meeting last week. The words are “fetus,” “entitlement,” “vulnerable,” “diversity,” “transgender,” “evidence-based” and “science-based.” In some cases, the analysts were reportedly given replacement phrases to use instead.
AMY GOODMAN: After widespread criticism of the purported ban, on Sunday the CDC director, Dr. Brenda Fitzgerald, took to Twitter to refute The Washington Post report in a series of tweets, saying no such ban had been proposed, adding, quote, “CDC remains committed to our public health mission as a science- and evidence-based institution.” There was some confusion about whether the alleged directive was issued by the CDC or its parent agency, Health and Human Services.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: In another tweet, Fitzgerald cited…