CDC Pick Dave Weldon’s Views On Reproduction And End-Of-Life Raise Alarm

Dr. Dave Weldon has been nominated to head the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. His confirmation hearing is Thursday, March 13. I recently reviewed some of Weldon’s beliefs about vaccines, but his previous comments about reproductive care and end-of-life issues are also worth exploring.

Reproductive Health

Many have expressed concerns about Weldon’s stances on reproductive care. In terms of infectious diseases, he has questioned the safety of the HPV vaccine, which not only reduces cervical cancer dramatically but has been shown to save lives. Weldon has also promoted incorrect information that abortions cause breast cancer.

He also supports abstinence-only sex education. This is a massive problem, with sexually transmitted infections increasing and access to medical care decreasing for many patients. In 2022, the CDC noted that the syphilis rates were the highest since the 1950s.

In 2023, there were 209,253 cases of syphilis. More worrisome was the increase in congenital syphilis (newborns infected from their mothers) by 3% compared to the year before. Syphilis can be deadly. Further, there was such a shortage of Benzathine Penicillin G, the only drug recommended for the treatment of uncomplicated syphilis in pregnancy, that the FDA allowed the importation of the drug from France. These growing cases of syphilis reflect a failure of public health, which will only worsen as cuts to public health funding become deeper.

Weldon is perhaps most known for the “Weldon amendment,” which states that “[n]o qualified health plan offered through an Exchange may discriminate against any health care provider or health care facility because of its unwillingness to provide, pay for, provide coverage of, or refer for abortions.” This includes hospitals, health insurance plans, doctors, and nurses—that refuse to provide, cover, pay for, or refer for abortion. The result is that providers can deny abortion care, referrals and even information to patients without penalty. Weldon has supported many other anti-abortion bills. The National Women’s Law Center warns that Weldon’s powers could lead to increased surveillance and tracking to criminalize abortion, as proposed by Project 2025, with loss of Medicaid funding to states that refuse to provide detailed information. In an interview in Time magazine, President Trump indicated that decisions about monitoring pregnancies and punishing women who get abortions should be left to the states.
Time: Do you think states should monitor women’s pregnancies so they can know if they’ve gotten an abortion after the ban?

Trump: I think they might do that. Again, you’ll have to speak to the individual states.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has vowed to reexamine the safety of mifepristone. The drug changes progesterone levels, preventing an early pregnancy from continuing. The Food and Drug Administration has considerable data showing the drug’s safety over many years. The CDC may be tracking pregnancies and miscarriages more closely than previously. Weldon is staunchly anti-abortion. How will that influence this review project?

Maternal Deaths

The CDC collects pregnancy related outcomes. Maternal mortality reviews currently don’t even consider if abortion access or delays in abortion care contribute to the deaths, reportedly because CDC recommendations don’t direct committees to address that issue.

For now, the Pregnancy Mortality Surveillance System data includes this telling chart on mortality related to race/ethnicity that notes that Non-Hispanic American Indian or Alaska Native have a much higher rate of death (ratio 118.7) compared Non-Hispanic Black (ratio 69.3) to Non-Hispanic Whites (ratio 24.3). Over 80% of pregnancy-related deaths were determined to be preventable.

Maternal sepsis and mortality have increased significantly since states like Texas introduced a strict abortion ban. Maternal mortality reviews were stopped in Texas and Georgia, as they had prviously been in Idaho.

CDC’s Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System, in place since 1988, was shut down last month because of claims that PRAM promoted “DEI,” or diversity, equity and inclusion. Without access to data on racial and economic disparities in health outcomes because of President Trump’s executive order to censor words and programs relating to DEI, appropriate interventions may no longer be possible and maternal mortality will likely increase.

Given these constraints, one area senators might ask Weldon about is what, as head of CDC, he would do to address maternal mortality, particularly among poor women of color.

End-of-Life Issues — Would Living Wills Be Honored?

In 2007, Weldon chose to interfere in the case of Terri Schiavo when her husband decided to withdraw artificial food and nutrition after four years of support since she was still in a persistent vegetative state.

Schiavo had previously told family that she would not want to be kept alive artificially if she were dependent on the care of others. Weldon introduced the Incapacitated Person’s Legal Protection Act, allowing federal courts to review state court decisions to permit withdrawing or withholding AFN. The bill was ultimately passed and signed by President George W. Bush. All of the parents’ appeals to continue the feedings were denied, and the tube was removed.

As head of CDC, Weldon would be overseeing more than traditional public health activities such as vaccination and responses to outbreaks. Many are concerned that his strong beliefs could interfere with personal medical decisions.

Note: I reached out to Dr. Weldon but have not yet received a response.