Censorship in the CDC

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is the nation’s top agency for public health, charged with the health and protection of all Americans. So the news that the Trump administration has allegedly told the CDC to censor its language is especially outrageous.

According to a report from the Washington Post last Friday, policy analysts at the CDC were given a list of forbidden words by senior CDC officials who oversee the agency’s budget.

The seven dangerous terms are “vulnerable,” “entitlement,” “diversity,” “transgender,” “fetus,” “evidence-based,” and “sciencebased.”

Apparently these are the words that could torpedo the CDC’s budget request with the White House and Republicans in Congress.

In their place? Some alternative phrases were supplied. Rather than “science-based,” for example, analysts could say, “CDC bases its recommendations on science in consideration with community standards and wishes.” In other cases, no alternatives were offered (or seem possible, frankly).

As soon as the report was released, the backlash began.

Facing a firestorm from scientists, the public, and her own employees, CDC director Dr. Brenda Fitzgerald wrote a series of tweets on Sunday morning pushing back on the idea that her agency was being censored.

“I want to assure you there are no banned words at CDC,” said Fitzgerald in her first tweet. “We will continue to talk about all our important public health programs.”

Fitzgerald’s insistence is only partially reassuring.

In a highly charged political climate, it’s understandable why the CDC would be concerned about getting its budget approved. Yet every single one of our leaders in Washington should be mature and responsible enough to handle all of the words which reflect scientific reality.

If they can’t, what are they doing there?

Furthermore, even a well-intentioned attempt to use euphemisms in a budget request could have outsized impacts. Budgets aren’t neutral documents. Their purpose is to set priorities and decide activities. For the good of all Americans, the CDC’s priorities and activities need to be based on science and evidence, and they need the freedom to use every word that fits this mission.