HEALTH SERVICES

Trump Picks Anti-Abortion Leader for HHS Spot

Believes scientists are “under the control of the abortion lobby.”

President Trump on Friday announced that he will appoint Charmaine Yoest, former president of the anti-abortion group Americans United for Life, to serve as assistant secretary for public affairs at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The conservative activist currently works as a fellow at American Values, a social conservative organization, and had previously worked for the Reagan administration, the ultra-conservative Family Research Council, and Mike Huckabee’s 2008 presidential campaign. Yoest famously told The New York Times that she believes abortions can cause breast cancer; and when presented with evidence to the contrary, she accused scientists of being “under the control of the abortion lobby.”