A Brief Overview of The Far Right Attack on Health and Safety

In the flurry of despicable actions from the Trump administration, it’s kind of hard to focus on one thing. While I can’t cover everything (for the better, I honestly think it would take years off my life), there’s a really pressing, widespread issue I want to talk about: America’s health at the hands of the Trump administration. I think we’re in a dangerous time, and everyone needs to be more conscious of the changes being made–things aren’t looking very good.

Food Safety Deregulation & Cut-backs

Background information:

USDA - United States Department of Agriculture. It oversees policies relating to farming, food quality, and nutrition.

FDA - Food and Drug Administration. It is responsible for protecting public health by ensuring the safety of many consumer items.

Starting off strong, let’s talk about food production and how deregulation puts people at risk. Regulations on food production are designed with safety in mind. However, having to keep the products clean, the workers safe, and the consumers healthy takes extra time and money, which industries do not like. So what do they do? They lobby the government to either prevent or repeal regulations that keep you safe. 

To make sure we’re all on the same page, let’s first ensure we have a basic idea of what lobbying is. If you don’t know, lobbying is when a group attempts to persuade government officials in order to influence legislation. Corporations often have lobbying groups that try to influence lawmakers to favor policies that allow for cheaper, more efficient processes. While they don’t pay the politicians directly, the business will donate money to their campaign funds.

Many of the people in the current Trump admin. have ties to big food lobbying, including his chief of staff, Susie Wiles. She worked as a lobbyist representing the tobacco company Swisher International and food companies like Kellogg’s, Kraft Heinz, and Nestle SA. When the FDA proposed that flavored tobacco be banned to reduce its appeal to minors, Wiles fought back. The FDA ended up rescinding the proposal.

These lobbyists intend to put corporate interests at the forefront of American policy, and it seems to be going their way. Two key regulatory agencies, the FDA and the USDA are being targeted by the new administration and its inclination to slash regulatory agencies.

For one, back in February, the Department of Government Efficiency, in its effort to rapidly cut the size of government agencies, accidentally fired some pretty crucial USDA employees and then asked them to come back. These employees were working on a response related to the H5N1 avian flu outbreak that is tearing through farms across the nation. This bird flu is infecting poultry, cattle, and even humans. This is one of the factors affecting everyone’s current favorite topic: egg prices! The measures to prevent the spread of the bird flu would help to resist mutations in the virus, protect people from becoming ill, and increase the nation’s egg supply. 

This FDA also faced a cut in its number of workers, including those who review the safety of ingredients and medical devices. Just over a week later, they were informed that this had been in error and that their firings had also been rescinded. There’s a pattern in the administration’s behavior of making orders without any foresight and then immediately going back on them. This is unacceptable, and it will only get worse as time goes on.

The volatility of government employment status is really not good, especially if the employees are the ones ensuring consumer safety. Playing fast and loose with these jobs is probably not the best idea, but maybe that’s just me: I kind of like knowing there’s rules and regulations in place that keep corporations from poisoning me for a quick buck. 

Gender Affirming Care & Trans Healthcare

Background information:

Gender dysphoria - the psychological stress that occurs when one’s gender identity does not align with their sex assigned at birth.

The demonization of transgender people is in the spotlight right now and legislation is being put in place to make the lives of trans individuals even more difficult. On Trump’s first day back in office, he declared that the government will only recognize two biological sexes: male and female. Additionally, he ordered that federal funding supporting gender-affirming medical care for transgender youth under 19 years old be stopped. 

Gender-affirming care encompasses a variety of treatments. Social support and counseling is a crucial part of trans healthcare. It’s a path that helps people suffering from gender dysphoria approach solutions that ease their distress. Puberty blockers are another reversible form of gender-affirming care which delay the changes of puberty in children. This delay allows for improved mental wellbeing, further gender exploration, and dysphoria relief.

Trans youth who meet a strict set of criteria may qualify for hormone replacement therapy (HRT) which, depending on the desired outcome, means increasing the levels of testosterone or estrogen. Again, with all gender-affirming care, the aim is to relieve gender-dysphoria and lessen the divide between sex assigned at birth and their gender identity. 

The thing that the far-right loves to bring up the most is gender-affirming surgeries. However, these are a super rare occurrence, as the “current international guidelines do not suggest any medical or surgical intervention for [transgender and gender-diverse] individuals prior to puberty.” With such minimal occurrences of the most extreme cases, it appears that the legislation is more aimed to fearmonger than to protect youth.

The big picture is that without any of these services being offered, the quality of life for many people is going to get worse. Gender affirming care is known to improve the mental wellbeing and decrease suicidal ideation for those being treated. Additionally, the implementation of anti-trans laws have been linked to a rise in trans suicide rates. When it comes down to it, it’s a health decision that could save someone’s life. Such a matter should be left to the individual, their family, and a medical team: not the government. The health–and lives–of many children are at stake as a result of this push.

Abortion and Women’s Reproductive Rights

Background information:

Roe v. Wade - ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court which ruled that the right to abortion was protected by the Constitution.

Moving on, let’s talk about abortion. By now, it’s been over two years since Roe v. Wade was overturned, and 12 states have completely banned abortions with many others implementing some pretty harsh restrictions. Taking away a person’s autonomy to make healthcare decisions about their body is terrible in its own right, but it’s also detrimental to the health and wellbeing of the people in areas with said restrictions.

For one, medical decisions and procedures are hurried because they try to beat the abortion restriction deadlines. In a study on the effects of states having hostile abortion laws, one genetic counselor stated that “I definitely have seen that families have to make different decisions or have to make “less informed” decisions again like gut check versus having the actual chromosomes in your hands because of the socio-economic pressures that exist there.” Many people, particularly in low-income areas, don’t have the resources to travel out of state to get a safe abortion. This leads to concerns about unsafe abortions.

Unsafe abortions are “procedure[s] for terminating an unwanted pregnancy either by people lacking the necessary skills, or in an environment lacking minimal medical standards, or both, as defined by the World Health Organization.” Without safe, accessible abortions, these practices are more likely to increase. The World Health Organization also says that incomplete abortions, heavy bleeding, infections, and damage to genitals and internal organs are common consequences of these abortion attempts. There’s been no discovered link between a drop in the number of abortions and restrive laws, but there is a link between the number of unsafe abortions with restrive laws.

Overall, both attacks on gender-affirming care and abortion have made providing and receiving healthcare more difficult for many people. On the provider side, clinicians are afraid of facing criminal charges as a result of providing care. Especially with state level governments, it can be difficult for care providers to keep up with the most current legislation. This hesitation to provide care and advice puts people in harm's way. Even if these crucial healthcare workers migrate to areas with less restrictions, it leaves people who need potentially life-saving care with limited options: either travel (which takes time and money) or suffer.

So what?

Even though this doesn’t begin to cover the hell that we’re in, I hope you can see that we’re in a pretty dire situation. It’s important to realize that these policies don’t only affect one group. They affect you, your friends, and loved ones. Your health and best interests are not at the forefront of the politicians priorities. Instead, their decisions depend on the desires of big corporations. In this time, it’s important to educate and advocate, and do your part to make your voice heard in this terrifying time.