When it comes to terminology used on official documents, the Centers for Disease Control is now prohibited from using words such as “science-based” and “transgender,” according to a new report from The Washington Post.
The list of “forbidden” words were distributed to policy analysts this Thursday. The Post reports that other words on the list include “vulnerable,” “entitlement,” “evidence-based,” and “fetus.” The terms are not allowed to be used on official documents for the 2019 budget, which is expected to be released in February.
An analyst told the Post that instead of “evidence-based” or “science-based,” the phrase “CDC bases its recommendations on science in consideration with community standards and wishes” is to be used.
Other branches of the health department are also likely instructed to abide by the ban. According to the Post’s source, analysts were shocked when they saw the list.
This is the most disturbing part — or equally disturbing. The CDC has to give equal weight to superstition, imaginary friends, hang ups, prejudices. #CDC7words https://t.co/IRfS0QXWO9 pic.twitter.com/SPbO6pwWlt
— Dan Savage (@fakedansavage) December 16, 2017
“It was very much, ‘Are you serious? Are you kidding?'” the analyst said, “In my experience, we’ve never had any pushback from an ideological standpoint.”
From The Washington Post:
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 Health and Human Services, which oversees the CDC, 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.
…
[Health and Human Services] has also removed information about LGBT Americans from its website. The department’s Administration for Children and Families, for example, archived a page that outlined federal services that are available for LGBT people and their families, including how they can adopt and receive help if they are the victims of sex trafficking.
As news of the ban spreads, it’s likely to cause a backlash.
“Our subject matter experts will not lay down quietly — this hasn’t trickled down to them yet,” one analyst said.
Featured image via Gage Skidmore (Flickr)
