Nicole Alexander Fisher is a freelance writer based in Philadelphia with a BA in English and journalism. She previously worked on the campaign for Gov.-elect Phil Murphy, D-New Jersey. You can follow her on Twitter at @_nalexander. The views expressed in this commentary are her own.

(CNN) On Thursday, according to the Washington Post, policy analysts at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention were told by others in the Trump administration that the use of seven specific words and phrases would be prohibited. On the list are the words "vulnerable," "diversity," "entitlement," "transgender," "fetus," "evidence-based," and "science-based." The decision has not only been deemed as reckless and dangerous, but an offense to the scientific community.

This goes far beyond an attack on lexicon or word-choice. A ban on words not only creates barriers for scientists who need to communicate, but also breaks public trust in the areas they are meant to investigate and research.

Nicole Alexander Fisher

Banning the word "fetus" will embolden the pro-life communities who oppose abortion, while at the same time jeopardizing some of critical studies from the CDC that study the effects of disease, such as Zika, on the fetus specifically. Similarly, banning "transgender" and "diversity" energizes the ideals of white nationalism and attacks on already vulnerable communities. It also ignores or diminishes the health regimens that are specific to transgender individuals -- and may only create further complications for them.

The current director of the CDC, Dr. Brenda Fitzgerald, who was appointed by the Trump administration in July, has since responded on Twitter , claiming that there are "no banned words at the CDC", and that "the CDC has a long standing history of making public health and budget decisions that are based on the best available science and data for the benefit of all people."

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