WASHINGTON, Dec. 18 (Xinhua) -- The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has been told by the Donald Trump administration that words including "fetus" and "diversity" are inappropriate to use in budget reports, but its director seems to have denied it.
U.S. media reported earlier that "vulnerable", "entitlement", "diversity", "transgender", "fetus", "evidence-based" and "science-based" are the seven purportedly banned words.
Dr. Brenda Fitzgerald on Sunday disputed the ban on Twitter, telling the public that there are no banned words at CDC.
"You may be understandably concerned about recent media reports alleging that CDC is banned from using certain words in budget documents. I want to assure you that CDC remains committed to our public health mission as a science- and evidence-based institution," she said in one of a series of six tweets.
However, some netizens are not assured. "Gracie" replied: "Were you requested not to use the words???" "7 Minutes of Justice" commented: "I would like the @CDC to release an official statement with clarification and assurance that the following words have not been banned..."
Isabelle Leonard commented: "@CDCDirector Please confirm that a proposal for funding including some or all of these words would have an equal chance of receiving funds as a proposal not including these words. If this is not the case, then this is a functional ban, as to use them is to forfeit funding."
The reported ban has led to massive criticism. Planned Parenthood, a nonprofit organization that provides reproductive health care, issued a statement saying: "It's clearer than ever: this administration has disdained women's health, LGBTQ people and science since day one."
