Member-only story
Robert F Kennedy Jr wants us ‘eliminated’
US government to fund pointless and frankly offensive research
When Trump took office in January, he announced sweeping cuts to research funding — forcing many scientists to consider moving to Europe. Lists of words banned from research circulated among government agencies include ‘underrepresented’, ‘elderly’, ‘women’, and ‘disabled’.
Vital information started to disappear from government websites, including information on HIV and even information on food and drug recalls, leaving public health at risk — especially among minority groups such as the LGBTQ+ community.
As a nurse educator, I taught students about health inequalities. Research not only helps identify these but also finds ways to reduce them. Sadly, there is still a long way to go until we achieve health equity in the UK. The idea that Trump wants to undo any progress made to address health inequalities is just shocking.
The banned words list effectively restricts much of the research on minority groups and even women, making the job of any researcher or scientist almost impossible.
Yet, one minority group slipped through the net somehow. So, how exactly did this happen?
