In the US, an assault on science, global health and human rights: Part 2 - Reproductive justice, gender and DEIA under attack

THROUGH SEVERAL ACTIONS, THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION has demanded aggressive censorship of language related to gender, diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility across government. This includes the purging of all references to these topics on government websites, grants, programs, and new proposals. 

The actions attempt to reverse several decades of deliberate efforts in the US to address racism and discrimination towards racial minorities in housing, employment, the military, commerce, education, and all aspects of life. DEIA efforts are based on settled science and rooted in overwhelming evidence that health and health outcomes are intimately linked to such social determinants as housing, race, gender, and sexual orientation. In response to these edicts, many private companies and universities such as Walmart, Google, and Northwestern University have abandoned their DEIA programs.  

Although the US has been recognised as a global leader in accessibility and the rights of people with disabilities, as codified in the Americans with Disabilities Act, the new administration’s actions threaten to undermine this leadership and return to an era of ignorance and intolerance towards physically challenged Americans. 

A case brought to the federal district court in Maryland on behalf of a coalition of college professors, diversity officers, and restaurant worker advocates argued that the DEI actions violated their right to due process and exceeded the authority of the president. The plaintiffs claimed that the actions were ‘“breeding fear and already forcing irreversible harm by chilling core political speech and academic freedom.”  In February, Judge Adam B. Abelson granted a preliminary injunction that bars portions of the Trump orders to cancel federal contracts with DEI components and blocks enforcement against universities and publicly-traded companies with similar DEIA policies.