According to the Washington Post, employees of the US public health agency have been advised against using words like “fetus” or “diversity”.
Part of Taboo, USA-wide. Last Friday, the Washington Post revealed information that immediately sparked a media outcry. According to the prestigious daily, the Trump administration reportedly asked CDC officials (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), the federal institution in charge of public health, to refrain from using certain expressions. Words as offensive as “vulnerable” or “diversity” would henceforth be banned from the agency’s official vocabulary.
This astonishing blacklisting took place last Thursday at CDC headquarters in Atlanta during a one and a half hour meeting organized by the organization’s financial executives for public policy coordinators. The complete list includes seven words, as many as deadly sins: “vulnerable”, “right to benefit” (entitlement), “diversity”, “transgender”, “fetus”, “evidence-based” (evidence-based) and “science-based” (science based).
New minister in anticipation
The head of the financial department who formulated these instructions did not give a justification, according to the source (anonymous) of the Washington Post, but was content to declare that she was passing on instructions that we imagine received at the top place. In some cases, the censored expressions had to be replaced by periphrases. This is the case with “based on science”, which would become according to the example given: “the CDC bases its recommendations on science by taking into account local norms and preferences (community standards, editor’s note) “.
As the American media have not failed to point out, this list draws in hollow the pet peeves of the Trump administration. The right to abortion, questions of gender identity and sexual orientation, social assistance, are all markers that the White House would like to put under a bushel, in order to turn the page on the Obama era definitively.
The case comes in a context of instability at the head of the American Department of Health (Health and Human Services, HHS). Former Secretary of State Tom Price was pushed out last September for funding private jet travel at taxpayer expense. The future Secretary of State, Alex Azar, enjoys a reputation for competence and pragmatism (in English). But his appointment has not yet been validated by the Senate, and the department is currently headed by a former George W. Bush administration, lawyer Eric Hargan.
lips are sealed
On the side of the officials, few reactions at this stage. “The claim that HHS has ‘banned words’ is a misinterpretation of discussions about the budget development process,” the HHS department spokesperson said. from ABC News. “HHS will continue to use the best available science to improve the health of all Americans. “A development considered timid by the American press, which points to the absence of formal denial.
Comprised of eight centers across the United States, the CDC is a prestigious federal agency responsible for guiding US public health policy in disease prevention, environmental health, and health promotion. Since Trump took over, and a fortiori since this summer (in English), she is asked to lock her communication. On the official Twitter account of the agency, we remain imperturbable: since Friday, is displayed there a photo of a ribbon puppy, supposed to warn about the dangers of canine germs. On AlternativeCDC, an account founded by anonymous employees of the CDC, on the other hand, we have not hesitated, in recent hours, to shell one by one the forbidden words …
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