The
Trump administration is prohibiting officials at the nation’s top public health
agency from using a list of seven words or phrases — including “fetus” and
“transgender” — in official documents being prepared for next year’s budget.
Policy
analysts at the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention in Atlanta were told of the list of forbidden words
at a meeting Thursday with senior CDC officials who oversee the budget,
according to an analyst who took part in the 90-minute briefing. The forbidden
words are “vulnerable,” “entitlement,” “diversity,” “transgender,” “fetus,”
“evidence-based” and “science-based.”
In some
instances, the analysts were given alternative phrases. Instead of “science-based”
or “evidence-based,” the suggested phrase is “CDC bases its recommendations on
science in consideration with community standards and wishes,” the person said.
In other cases, no replacement words were immediately offered.
The
Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees the CDC, “will continue
to use the best scientific evidence available to improve the health of all
Americans,” HHS spokesman Matt Lloyd told The Washington Post. “HHS also
strongly encourages the use of outcome and evidence data in program evaluations
and budget decisions.”
The question
of how to address such issues as sexual orientation, gender identity and
abortion rights — all of which received significant visibility under the Obama
administration — has surfaced repeatedly in federal agencies since President
Trump took office. Several key departments — including HHS, as well as Justice, Education, and
Housing and Urban Development — have changed some federal policies and how they
collect government information about lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender
Americans.
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