Authorities company webpages about HIV, LGBTQ+ individuals and a number of different public well being subjects have been down as of Friday night resulting from President Donald Trump’s govt orders geared toward gender ideology and variety, fairness and inclusion.
A few of the phrases being flagged for removing embrace pregnant individuals, chestfeeding, range, DEI and references to vaccines, well being and gender fairness, in keeping with officers on the Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention who spoke to ABC Information on the situation of anonymity.
Total databases have additionally been briefly eliminated.
A basic view of the Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention (CDC) headquarters in Atlanta, Sept. 30, 2014.
Tami Chappell/Reuters, FILE
Researchers confirmed to ABC Information they have been scrambling to gather and archive as a lot knowledge as doable from the websites earlier than they have been taken down.
Some pages could be returned to public view after the language is reviewed and eliminated, officers on the Division of Well being and Human Companies and the CDC stated, although it is not clear which pages.
Eliminated pages included key CDC data on the speed of HIV diagnoses, breakdowns of infections by race and gender and the likelihood of HIV transmission by varied types of intercourse.
The Youth Threat Habits Surveillance System, a nationwide survey system that collects varied habits on youngsters in addition to their gender id, can also be down.
The CDC’s “HIV Threat Discount Device,” an interactive device that allowed customers to gauge the danger of sure sexual behaviors, has additionally been erased.
For now, the company seems to have consolidated all of its details about the virus that causes AIDS right into a single, simplified web page titled, “About HIV.”
One other web site, reproductiverights.gov, which offered assets on reproductive care and abortion entry, was additionally eliminated. The Meals and Drug Administration’s webpage titled “Minority Well being and Well being Fairness” was additionally down.
Requested Friday afternoon within the Oval Workplace if authorities web sites could be shut all the way down to be scrubbed, the president stated it would not be a “dangerous thought.”
“I do not know — it does not sound like a foul thought to me,” Trump stated.
President Donald Trump solutions a query after signing an govt order within the Oval Workplace on the White Home in Washington, Jan. 31, 2025.
Evan Vucci/AP
“DEI … would have ruined our nation, and now it is useless. I feel DEI is useless. So, in the event that they need to scrub the web site, that is OK with me. However I am unable to let you know,” Trump continued. Trump’s govt order on DEI known as for an “finish” to any associated insurance policies throughout the federal authorities.
The opposite govt order, “Defending Girls From Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Organic Fact to the Federal Authorities,” directed the federal authorities to acknowledge solely two sexes: female and male.
A memo despatched to HHS officers on Wednesday directed subagencies such because the CDC to take away “all outward dealing with media (web sites, social media accounts, and many others.) that inculcate or promote gender ideology” by 5 p.m. on Friday.
