A woman who has made a name for herself by being staunchly anti-science and anti-choice is set to be placed in a key position at the Department of Health thanks to President Donald Trump.
Continuing a trend of appointing individuals who are uniquely unqualified for their roles, Trump plans to appoint a woman who has knowingly spread misinformation regarding abortion to the masses.
Charmaine Yoest is the former president of the anti-abortion group Americans United for Life, and most notably spread information which correlation abortions to cancer – a blatantly false, manipulative narrative.
Yoest’s career began in the Reagan administration and most recently, she worked on the 2008 Mike Huckabee presidential campaign.
Now, she will serve as the assistant secretary for public affairs at the Department of Health and Human Services. Unfortunately, the assistant secretary position is not one which needs to be confirmed by the Senate, so her selection will be largely unopposed.
Speaking to the New York Times, Yoest argued in 2015 that abortions cause breast cancer.
“As a breast cancer survivor, the spin on abortion and breast cancer really troubles me. Why can’t you report what the research actually shows?”
Yoest has also argued that there is no correlation between an increase in birth control useage and a decrease in abortion rates.
In her capacity as the assistant secretary, Yoest will use her history of manipulation in order to “shape the department’s communication strategy.” Yet another disturbing appointment from this ever more disturbing administration seemingly intent on dismantling women’s reproductive rights.