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The words and phrases science-based, evidence-based, fetus, and vulnerable are all important words in science and medicine, and are frequently used on this site when I post about new health studies. Medical treatment is based on science, and it is evidence-based (that's why studies are done - to test hypotheses, and to see what the evidence shows). The effects of viruses (e.g. Zika virus, measles), nutrition, and environmental pollutants (e.g. BPA, lead, mercury, pesticides, air pollution) all have effects on the developing fetus. Fetuses, children, the elderly, and immunocompromised individuals are all especially vulnerable to the effects from pollutants. See how important and powerful those words are?

The Washington Post reported Friday (December 15, 2917) that the Trump administration is prohibiting officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) from using a list of 7 words or phrases in official documents when preparing next year's budget proposals. The seven words are: science-based, evidence-based, fetus, vulnerable, diversity, transgender, and entitlement.

The CDC is the nation's top health agency and staffed with many scientists working on diseases throughout the world, including the Zika virus (which has an effect on the developing fetus),  and working on ways to prevent sexually transmitted diseases among transgender people. This is an agency with more than 12,000 employees and a $7 billion budget that works on all sorts of health issues - including food and water safety, heart disease and cancer, antibiotic resistance, and censorshipways to prevent epidemics. Their work is based on science, and it looks at all the evidence. Yup - those pesky words are an integral part of the function of the CDC, and of science..

Of course scientists are outraged by this censorship of science. So should you.