Political Science

Condoms are ineffective in the fight against AIDS. Abortion increases the risk of breast cancer. An emergency contraceptive, recommended as safe and effective by two independent scientific advisory panels, is not approved for over- the-counter status in the United States.

These are just a few of the positions the current US administration has taken, in each case ignoring scientific evidence to the contrary. It arrived at these conclusions by either disbanding scientific advisory committees or packing them with candidates selected for political, rather than scientific, reasons. It has restricted federal scientists’ ability to talk freely with the media and with their colleagues. Most recently, it announced that the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) would determine which federal researchers can participate in scientific panels of the World Health Organization (WHO).

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