'Dismantling one of the strongest tools we have': Conservatives fret HHS cuts
Source: Politico
05/09/2025 05:00 AM EDT
The Trump administration’s decision to gut reproductive health research is alarming some conservatives, who worry it undercuts the president’s pro-family agenda. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. laid off thousands of federal employees last month, including about 80 who worked at the Centers for Disease Control’s Division of Reproductive Health, according to three former CDC staffers granted anonymity to speak candidly on agency dynamics.
The office collected state and national data on live births, abortion trends and fertility treatment outcomes — the kind of information policymakers rely on to assess and improve maternal and infant health care, said Isaac Michael, a former HHS statistician who worked on the Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System before he was laid off.
“If you cut PRAMS, this is dismantling one of the strongest tools we have to prevent maternal deaths, to reduce infant mortality and to close socioeconomic health gaps,” he said.
Michael — who said he voted for President Donald Trump in 2024 based on his anti-abortion stance and supports the president’s push to rein in federal spending — said ending PRAMS contradicts the administration’s pro-family messaging. By tracking maternal health behaviors before, during and after pregnancy, Michael said the PRAMS team helped identify health disparities, evaluate the effectiveness of Medicaid and Women, Infant and Children (WIC) programs for pregnant people and understand causes of preterm birth and infant death. “Without it, we are flying blind,” Michael said. “We lose the ability to see where we are failing mothers and babies until it’s too late.”
Read more: https://www.politico.com/news/2025/05/09/hhs-cuts-pregnancy-data-00336938
They don't care about "families" or "babies" or women for that matter.
Another "Cut everything but MY stuff" ass. It's FAFO Mr. Michael.
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