WASHINGTON, D.C. (LifeSiteNews) — President Donald Trump has selected pro-life David Weldon to lead the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, drawing praise from medical freedom advocates and social conservatives.
Dr. David Weldon is a former Florida congressman, Army veteran, and medical doctor. Throughout his time in Congress, he supported pro-life legislation, spoke out in support of Terri Schiavo, and advocated for vaccine safety.
President Trump called Dr. Weldon a “respected conservative leader on fiscal and social issues” and mentioned he “worked with the CDC to enact a ban on patents for human embryos,” in a post on Truth Social on Friday.
Weldon’s accomplishments in Congress include the still-in-force Weldon Amendment. It prohibits local, state, and federal entities from requiring health insurance plans to cover abortion if they receive taxpayer dollars.
He also wrote the bipartisan “Terri’s Law” to protect Terri Schiavo and her parents in ensuring her right to food and water. Her “estranged husband” and his mistress wanted to remove Schiavo’s feeding tubes.
Wesley Smith, a prominent opponent of euthanasia and assisted suicide, explained Weldon’s role in a recent article for National Review. “Terri was never diagnosed as brain dead, which is legally deceased,” Smith confirmed. “She was either in a persistent or minimally conscious condition, which is very much alive.”
“Weldon’s bill was among the most bipartisan laws passed during the George W. Bush presidency,” he wrote, emphasizing the bipartisan nature. “In the House of Representatives, 45 percent of the House Democratic caucus who voted supported the bill. It received unanimous consent in the U.S. Senate, including from Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, Joe Biden, Tom Harkin (who was a prime mover in support of the bill), Harry Reid, and Dianne Feinstein, etc. If only one senator had objected, the bill would have failed, but none did.”
Weldon’s pick earned the praise of Megan Basham, a pro-life reporter for The Daily Wire.
“Trump’s pick to head the CDC, Dr. David Weldon, has a strong record of supporting the rights of the unborn and promoting religious conscience rights regarding abortion,” she wrote on X (formerly Twitter). “This goes along with DOGE announcing it will recommend cutting off federal funding to Planned Parenthood and signals from Trump transition team that they plan to appoint pro-lifers to offices high in HHS.”
Basham said pro-lifers should continue to push the Trump team.
Trump’s pick to head the CDC, Dr. David Weldon, has a strong record of supporting the rights of the unborn and promoting religious conscience rights regarding abortion. This goes along with DOGE announcing it will recommend cutting off federal funding to Planned Parenthood and… pic.twitter.com/mGSk3kbeLJ
— Megan Basham (@megbasham) November 23, 2024
Weldon also has been a proponent of transparency and safety when it comes to vaccines. For example, he advocated for an independent agency, not the CDC, to approve vaccines.
The pick drew criticism from a writer at mainstream health-related website STAT News, who remarked that it is “worrisome” that Weldon “has been a persistent skeptic about the safety of some vaccinations.”
The selection of Weldon comes as the CDC, and the public health establishment in general, is facing further scrutiny and a lack of trust, stemming in part from COVID policies. This includes pushing COVID shots for children, who face minimal risk from the virus. The agency also faced questioning for pushing masking, despite a lack of evidence.
The disease agency widely expanded its power during the outbreak of coronavirus, claiming a new right to prohibit landlords from evicting tenants who were not paying rent. Typically, evictions are a standard contract dispute that is handled at the local level through county courts or other means.
The Supreme Court struck down the “nationwide moratorium” in 2021.
Trump’s health policy team includes a mixture of medical freedom advocates and vaccine safety advocates, along with other questionable choices.
For example, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has been picked to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, with a particular focus on chronic illnesses and nutrition. Trump also selected Dr. Marty Makary, a skeptic of widespread lockdowns and pediatric COVID shots, to lead the Food and Drug Administration. But he picked pro-vaccine Dr. Janette Neishewat to be the Surgeon General.
“Fantastic choice for CDC. Dr. Weldon is the real deal,” Calley Means, a health freedom advocate, wrote on X.
RFK Jr. also celebrated the selection of Weldon.
“Dave’s leadership at CDC will bring the truth and transparency needed to restore the public’s confidence in this institution,” he wrote. “Welcome aboard.”
While Weldon seems to be a well-liked pick to head the CDC among social conservatives due to his skepticism of Big Pharma, his foreign policy views, which may or may not be relevant in this role, are in line with the establishment, with Weldon being a co-founder of the Israel Allies Foundation, an advocacy group with a history of supporting war.