Trump picks pro-life vaccine skeptic who fought for Terri Schiavo to lead CDC

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...

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...

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.”