3 reasons I worry on this Women's Day
So again, yes or no, do you believe that clinical trial diversity is critically important? That’s an easy one.” “Well, if you are talking about a trial of sickle cell disease, are we saying that we need to have white people in a trial of sickle cell
Banning DEI and Makary's thoughts on this; Taking away abortion rights; and 1.6 million transgender people in the US...
By Alex Morozov
March 8, 2025
AS A KID growing up in Russia I remember March 8 as one of the most important holidays. We didn’t have to call it “Women’s Day” - just “March 8” was enough. And there was a specific flower, with fragrant yellow little pea-sized balls, that was always associated with this day.
I found the name of this flower - Mimosa (Acacia Dealbata), also known as the Silver Wattle - in an interesting source - Italy Magazine. “Prior to the Second World War, celebrations commemorating International Women’s Day (Festa della Donna) happened on various days within the month of March. However, in 1945, the Union of Italian Women voted to fix the date annually on March 8. Their reason for this was to commemorate two separate events that occurred outside of Italy. The first was the strike by women garment workers in New York on March 8, 1857, which, two years later, resulted in the formation of the United States’ first women’s union. The second event was the ‘bread and peace’ strike by Russian women on March 8, 1917.”
On this March 8, I am worried about our women for 3 reasons.
Reason 1: Banning DEI
Trump’s executive order on January 20 to, within 60 days, “terminate, to the maximum extent allowed by law, all DEI, DEIA, and “environmental justice” offices and positions (including but not limited to “Chief Diversity Officer” positions); all “equity action plans,” “equity” actions, initiatives, or programs, “equity-related” grants or contracts; and all DEI or DEIA performance requirements for employees, contractors, or grantees.”
3 days later, the FDA removed its “Diversity in clinical trials” initiative from its website. Here is what that guidance said:
Sponsors should consider whether certain demographic groups (e.g., older patients, pediatric patients, females, a particular race or ethnic group or combinations thereof) may have a different response to the medical product…
Marty Makary in his confirmation hearings on Thursday was asked about this By Senator Blunt Rochester, D-DE:
“You agreed, we talked about the importance of clinical trial diversity, but I want an assurance that you will stand up to any Trump administration actions that conflict with this. So again, yes or no, do you believe that clinical trial diversity is critically important? That’s an easy one.”
“Well, if you are talking about a trial of sickle cell disease, are we saying that we need to have white people in a trial of sickle cell,” he responded.
What a stupid racist comment this is. Clearly he was prepared - he knew this question was coming. The lawyers who prepared him knew this was coming. Senator Blunt Rochester said, “we talked about this.” But he had to stay within the party line - diversity is bad. So he had to say something negative. Trump is watching, the Heritage Foundation is watching, and its Hawkish new CEO, Kevin Roberts called diversity and inclusion “fake and lame” in his book, Dawn’s Early Light.
But really, this is the only thing he could come up with to start answering this question - that in a trial in a predominantly African-American disease, there is no need for a diversity plan?
And by the way, Department of Education made a similar anti-DEI request on Feb 14, giving 14 days to implement. NPR interviewed Cynthia Jackson-Hammond, president of the Council for Higher Education Accreditation, in a story called “Schools, colleges have 2 weeks to ban DEI. An education expert warns it won't be easy”
Fadel: Describe to me some of the diversity, equity and inclusion programs, what they do and what their goal is. If they're not around, what happens?
Jackson-Hammond: Too often we focus just on diversity. And the second part of diversity, equity and inclusion is equity, which means fairness. How do you present policies, practices and procedures that are fair to everyone, including faculty, staff and students? Being able to have programs that support women in leadership or women just in the work environment – that's fairness. Prior to the constructs of DEI, there was very little alternatives or options for women to have a fair and equal chance to succeed in the communities or in higher education in general.
Reason 2: It was hard enough to get an abortion - it will get worse.
As I explain in my latest podcast, there are 3 factions within the conservative movement: libertarian, traditionalist and corporatist. And the traditionalist is the one that is pro-life, pro-family, anti-abortion, anti-LGBTQ, anti-transgender, etc.
There was a nice article 3 weeks ago in JAMA by a professor of Ob-GYN from Baylor College of Medicine in Texas, called “The Consequences of Legislative Regulation in Medicine”. A few quotes:
And Reason 3: “There are only two sexes: a man and a woman.”
On Jan 20, Trump issued this EO:”DEFENDING WOMEN FROM GENDER IDEOLOGY EXTREMISM”
The EO continues: “Gender ideology” replaces the biological category of sex with an ever-shifting concept of self-assessed gender identity, permitting the false claim that males can identify as and thus become women and vice versa, and requiring all institutions of society to regard this false claim as true.
Agency forms that require an individual’s sex shall list male or female, and shall not request gender identity. Agencies shall take all necessary steps, as permitted by law, to end the Federal funding of gender ideology.
NBC interviewed Jennifer C. Pizer, the chief legal officer at Lambda Legal, a civil rights organization that litigates on behalf of LGBTQ Americans:
"The president can't, with a wave of a pen, change the reality of who people are and the fact that we as a community of people exist," Pizer said. "We have equal protection rights, just like anybody else does."
There is a recent article that addresses this -
So this March 8 I think about people who are discriminated one way or another who had hopes for fairness; I think about women who need an abortion, and I think about the about 1.6 million people age 13+ in the US who identify as transgender. And I worry.
Happy March 8 everyone.