Centers for Disease Control and Prevention orders paper to be retracted to remove terms like 'LGBT' and 'gender'



The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) , a medical research organization under the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, has instructed its researchers to retract or suspend publication of research papers, in an apparent attempt to comply with President Donald Trump's executive order that recognizes only 'biological males and females' as gender .

BREAKING NEWS: CDC orders mass retraction and revision of submitted research across all science and medicine journals. Banned terms must be scrubbed.
https://insidemedicine.substack.com/p/breaking-news-cdc-orders-mass-retraction



CDC orders pullback of new scientific papers involving its researchers, source says | Reuters
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-cdc-orders-pullback-new-scientific-papers-involving-its-researchers-source-2025-02-02/

According to an investigation by Inside Medicine, an independent US medical media outlet, the CDC has instructed its researchers to retract or suspend the publication of scientific papers in external medical and academic journals.

This fact was also corroborated by the foreign media outlet Reuters, which reported that 'the sweeping order was contained in an email sent by the CDC's chief scientific officer to all department heads on Friday, January 31, according to officials who have seen the email.'

The retraction orders include papers that are under consideration for publication in journals, as well as papers that have already been accepted for publication but not yet published. According to Inside Medicine and Reuters, the orders are aimed at removing certain 'prohibited words' from the papers.

Below is a photo of the text of the email sent to CDC officials that Inside Medicine actually obtained. The list of prohibited terms includes LGBTQ+ related terms such as 'Gender', ' Transgender ', 'Pregnant person ', 'Pregnant people', ' LGBT ', 'Transsexual', 'Non-binary', 'Nonbinary', 'Assigned male at birth', 'Assigned female at birth', 'Biologically male', and 'Biologically female '.



This measure, which could be seen as a form of censorship, is believed to be a response to the inauguration of President Donald Trump, who has taken an anti-trans stance, including restricting gender-related medical treatment and revoking executive orders on diversity, equity, and inclusion. Trump has signed an executive order recognizing only 'biological male and female' as gender, repealing policies that emphasize diversity in race, sex, and other areas, and has put forward policies such as discontinuing the use of the term 'gender.'

Already, the CDC has removed from its website statistics on HIV among transgender people, data on health disparities among gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender youth, and a database tracking behaviors that put adolescents at high risk for health issues.

Various pages from government sites, including public data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, disappeared under President Trump's orders. What on earth disappeared? - GIGAZINE



According to Inside Medicine, while it is unclear how many papers will be affected, most of the papers contain demographic information about the study population and patients, including sex and gender. Therefore, in addition to the gender research that President Trump and others may have in mind, any research on COVID-19, heart disease, cancer, etc. may be subject to censorship.

Public health experts warn that removing gender-specific terms will impact many groups, including those with HIV and sexually transmitted diseases, and threaten the ability to address all kinds of medical needs. 'We can't just erase or ignore certain groups when it comes to preventing, treating, and researching HIV and other infectious diseases,' said Carl Schmidt, executive director of the HIV + Hepatitis Policy Institute . 'We hope that this order is not intentional.'

Editors of scientific journals have also questioned the legality of the move. Alberto Moravia, editor-in-chief of the medical journal American Journal of Public Health, noted that journals own the copyright to papers already accepted, and authors can no longer make changes. 'It's hard to believe that this is compatible with the First Amendment ,' Moravia said. 'A constitutional right has been revoked. How can the government decide what words journals use to describe scientific reality? The reality needs a name for it.'

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