As we face this global threat, the U.S. is fortunate to have many skilled and dedicated healthcare, emergency response, scientific, and public health workers addressing it. However, our ability to respond appropriately is severely hampered by an administration that disregards science and scientists and appears to put political considerations above public health.
Two year-end pieces from the New York Times capture the Trump administration’s awful toll on public health.
The Title X family planning program has long provided voluntary, high-quality, evidence-based care to clients with low incomes, but its ability to uphold standards of care and its own programmatic requirements is under threat.
The Trump administration’s apparent discomfort with expertise has taken an especially obvious and pernicious form: President Trump has issued an executive order instructing federal agencies to cut the number of federal advisory committees by one-third.
Two years ago today, President Obama signed into law bipartisan amendments to the Toxic Substances Control Act. Its goal was to address the health risk of the thousands of untested and unregulated chemicals, but EPA’s Scott Pruitt is undermining the law.
The Trump administration’s zero tolerance policy for migrants is a cruel experiment. It is making children sick and will have long-term adverse consequences for their health.
Scott Pruitt says his plan to revoke chemical plant safety rules will save business $88 million dollars. The trouble is, the rule’s estimated costs were never that high.
A new federal farm bill would likely result in millions of Americans losing food assistance, with more than half of those losses among families with children. Many of the losses would be the result of new work requirements, despite growing evidence that such requirements do little to help people and families climb out of poverty.
Another day, another study on the benefits of the Affordable Care Act and the gains we risk losing if the Trump administration succeeds at undermining the law.
About two weeks ago, federal health officials released a new funding announcement for the nation’s Title X family planning program, which serves millions of women each year. In the entire 60-page document, you won’t find the words “contraception” or “contraceptive” mentioned even once.