At CDC: ban on words, or rhetorical technique?

There are “no banned words” at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, according to a series of Tweets by CDC director Dr. Brenda Fitzgerald.

(If you’re interested in the ways that use or restriction of language can influence the way people think, then this is a story worth following closely.)

Fitzgerald composed her messaging in response to a report in The Washington Post, that the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump had banned the CDC from using seven words or phrases in next year’s budget documents.

As related by PBS NewsHour, the terms are “fetus,” “transgender,” “vulnerable,” “entitlement,” “diversity,” “evidence-based” and “science-based.”

Fitzgerald emphasized, “CDC has a long-standing history of making public health and budget decisions that are based on the best available science and data and for the benefit of all people—and we will continue to do so.”

From PBS Newshour:

“A group of the agency’s policy analysts said senior officials at the CDC informed them about the banned words on Thursday, according to the Post’s report. In some cases, the analysts were reportedly given replacement phrases to use instead.

“But in follow-up reporting, The New York Times cited ‘a few’ CDC officials who suggested the move was not meant as an outright ban, but rather, a technique to help secure Republican approval of the 2019 budget by eliminating certain words and phrases.”