NA and the CDC words

On December 16th, the Washington Post broke a story, revealing officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention were given a list of seven prohibited words or phrases by the Trump Administration. These words were: “fetus,” “vulnerable,” “entitlement,” “diversity ,” “evidence-based,” “science-based,” and “transgender.” GLMA President Gal Mayer, MD, MS, and GLMA (Gay & Lesbian Medical Association) Executive Director Hector Vargas, JD, issued the following statement in response: > > “We are deeply troubled and dismayed, but not surprised, that the Trump Administration has banned the CDC from using certain words, including the words “evidence-based” and “transgender.” In doing so, this administration is limiting the effectiveness of the CDC’s science-based public health mission and, once again, playing politics with the health and lives of transgender individuals. > > “This past year, the Trump administration has continually demonstrated that it is no ally of the transgender community, nor the entire LGBTQ community, by issuing policy to ban transgender individuals in the military, rescinding protection guidelines for transgender students in schools, eliminating gender identity questions from surveys of older Americans, and fighting gender-identity non-discrimination regulations in healthcare. This directive is yet another attack on transgender individuals. > > “In response to this directive, GLMA has sent a letter to CDC Director Brenda Fitzgerald, MD, calling on her to issue a statement that emphatically and unequivocally states the CDC will continue to use science-based approaches to improve the health and well-being of the full diversity of the American people, including transgender individuals. Nothing short of a clear, strong statement to this effect will fully absolve any doubts regarding the inclusion of transgender people in the communities that are served under the mission of the CDC.”