Seems like if this leads to decreased trust in what the CDC/HHS says, that can lead to increased acceptance of some opposing arguments, like the anti-vaccine ones.
It’s appalling.
I have no words. However, my D suggested making a T-shirt with the words.
It’s straight up Orwellian.
When I was going to work in public health, I was working in reproductive health. My friends still working in that field are quite worried. They’re afraid it’s not going to stop with the words. We already have abysmal health outcomes for mothers, fetuses, and babies in this country. This is going to make it worse.
I don’t want to live in a country where science/evidence-based is taboo. I’d prefer to continue to live in the 21st century and if that means leaving when I graduate… I’m fine with that.
It is beyond disgusting. What else do you call a fetus? Maybe we should start adopting foreign words for things to be able to call the things what they really are.
^ I’d hazard a guess that it’ll be the completely unscientific and utterly problematic “unborn baby.”
The problem with these terms, once forced into federal agencies and the popular lexicon they become “normal” even when they’re ridiculous. See, for example “partial birth abortion” which isn’t a thing but is an issue that for some people will determine who that vote for. That single issue based on a completely made-up, nonsense term designed to provoke emotional responses from people.
Yup. Exactly.
My physician daughter and her colleagues at a major research hospital have suggested turning fetus into “functional embryonic tissue en utero subject (FETUS),” then just using the acronym subsequently in the document. The use of acronyms is a pretty standard writing convention in scientific papers.
They also suggested “transitional reproductive and named-sex (TRANS)” to replace for the forbidden transgender.
I like those, wowm.
My favorite suggested replacement for fetus thus far is pre-human parasite.
What bothers me the most is that instead of referring to recommendations being “science-based,” CDC is now supposed to say something like “based on science in consideration with community standards and wishes.”
So if the science says that the benefits of HPV vaccine for young people vastly exceed the risks but the community doesn’t want kids to have the vaccine because it might lead them to think that it’s OK to have sex, CDC might not recommend the vaccine? What?
“based on science in consideration with community standards and wishes.”
What does this phrase even mean?!
This “proclamation” is fascist.
They haven’t gotten started yet @doschicos. Next up will be a slight revision:
“based on science in consideration with our dear leader’s standards and wishes.”
Reminds me of North Korea.
If there is one thing that I want my first-year composition students to remember, is that arguments need to be “evidence-based”. Apparently they won’t get jobs with the CDC now.
I wonder if you’ll be calling it that after you get pregnant, @romanigypsyeyes, especially after you feel that little flutter in your belly.
SMH
No kidding. I am a guy and I remember how ecstatic I was when my wife found out about her first pregnancy.
The words “pre-human parasite” would never have occurred to me. If I did, I would take it as a sign that I wasn’t meant to have kids.
Could an insistence of basing arguments on evidence be why there is so much dislike of colleges and universities these days?
I’ll bet you anything I’ll still call it a parasite. I’ll let you know in a year or so.
I want to get pregnant but that is my sense of humor. It doesn’t mean I won’t love and want it. I’m putting my health and life on the line to bring a child into the world.
My mom called me something similar. I think it’s funny and they were the best parents I could’ve ever asked for.
“Could an insistence of basing arguments on evidence be why there is so much dislike of colleges and universities these days?”
It’s part of the same anti-intellectual bent these days.
wiki entry for intellectual: “An intellectual is a person who engages in critical thinking, research, and reflection about society and proposes solutions for its normative problems.”
Silly me. I always thought being intelligent and engaging in critical thinking was a positive.