What: The National Women’s Law Center explains how CDC Director nominee Dan Weldon may be better known as a vaccine skeptic, but he also has decades of experience restricting abortion access, too. NWLC notes there is a 2005 amendment in federal law named after him, which allows health care providers to not provide abortions due to their beliefs. As the head of the CDC, Weldon could require states provide detailed abortion data. (Currently it’s optional.)
Key line: “David Weldon’s record demonstrates his willingness to put his personal beliefs above the health and safety of others. Despite his extensive anti-abortion, anti-health, and anti-science record, David Weldon has somehow managed to slip under the radar of public awareness. Personally, I don’t want an anti-abortion supervillain overseeing a nationwide abortion patient database, nor am I cool with an avid anti-vaxxer being the chief health officer in the U.S. tasked with protecting the country from the spread of infectious diseases.”
Source: National Women’s Law Center