The Republican War on Science is established fact. Chronicled by Chris Mooney, exemplified by the global warming denial attacks on James Hansen, and including stem cell research attacks, placement of political minders at fed agencies... the list goes on and on.
Here's a new wrinkle to the story, but at least this one has a happy ending. From Wired:
U.S. Funded Health Search Engine Blocks 'Abortion'
A U.S. government-funded medical information site that bills itself as the world's largest database on reproductive health has quietly begun to block searches on the word "abortion," concealing nearly 25,000 search results.
Called Popline, the search site is run by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Maryland. It's funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development, or USAID, the federal office in charge of providing foreign aid, including health care funding, to developing nations.
The massive database indexes a broad range of reproductive health literature, including titles like "Previous abortion and the risk of low birth weight and preterm births," and "Abortion in the United States: Incidence and access to services, 2005."
But on Thursday, a search on "abortion" was producing only the message "No records found by latest query."
Stephen Goldstein, a spokesman for Johns Hopkins, said he wasn't aware of the censorship, and couldn't immediately comment.
The good news? Once this came to the Dean's attention, the censorship was reversed, and within a day.
Statement Regarding POPLINE Database
I was informed this morning that the word "abortion" was blocked as a search term in the POPLINE family planning database administered by the Bloomberg School’s Center for Communication Programs. POPLINE provides evidence-based information on reproductive health and family planning and is the world’s largest database on these issues.
USAID, which funds POPLINE, found two items in the database related to abortion that did not fit POPLINE criteria. The agency then made an inquiry to POPLINE administrators. Following this inquiry, the POPLINE administrators at the Center for Communication Programs made the decision to restrict abortion as a search term.
I could not disagree more strongly with this decision, and I have directed that the POPLINE administrators restore "abortion" as a search term immediately. I will also launch an inquiry to determine why this change occurred.
The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health is dedicated to the advancement and dissemination of knowledge and not its restriction.
Sincerely,
Michael J. Klag, MD, MPH
Dean, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
A Hopkins spokesperson I contacted had little to add beyond the statement but affirmed the incident would lead to an inquiry (it's not clear whether they'll be a follow-up statement when the inquiry concludes).
Using POPLINE and searching HIV and condoms this afternoon (so I could educate John McCain) got me 4723 hits.
This was an important enough issue to post a statement about, and it's an important enough issue to follow up with another statement once the inquiry is concluded. Bloomberg School of Public Health has a great reputation, and kudos to them for correcting the mistake so quickly, even as we have to point out it was a mistake that should never have been made. USAID has no business censoring legitimate research, and inquiries at the congressional level regarding USAID's actions would be most appropriate as well.
When you go to the polls next November, forget about this nonsense about whether your candidate did or did not win the Democratic primary, and remember what it means to have a Republican in the White House. It means the war on science will continue, to the detriment of public health professionals and others who are supposed to be wearing the white hats.
Update [2008-4-4 18:55:38 by DemFromCT]:: more from Wired (h/t count)
Sandra Jordan, director of communications in USAID's office of population and reproductive health, could not identify the documents that prompted her office's complaint, but said the publications were one-sided in favor of abortion rights.
"We are part of the Bush administration, so we have to make sure that all parts of the story are told," says Jordan. "The administration's policy is definitely anti-abortion, and the administration does not see abortion as a part of family planning policy."
Jordan says that the Johns Hopkins database administrators blocked the word "abortion" on their own, and had misunderstood USAID's request.
What were the two articles, why were they removed and were they put back?
The American Library Association's president Loriene Roy applauded dean Klag's swift move to restore the search functionality, but said in a statement that she is still concerned about the overall policy.
"Any federal policy or rule that requires or encourages information providers to block access to scientific information because of partisan or religious bias is censorship," she said. "Such policies promote idealogy over science and only serve to deny researchers, students and individuals on all sides of the issue access to accurate scientific information."
