Anti-abortion doctor known for role in Terri Schiavo case tapped to head CDC

Trump made yet another medical appointment on Friday evening with the selection of former Rep. Dave Weldon (R-FL) to head up the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

"In addition to being a Medical Doctor for 40 years, and an Army Veteran, Dave has been a respected conservative leader on fiscal and social issues, and served on the Labor/HHS Appropriations Subcommittee, working for Accountability on HHS and CDC Policy and Budgeting," stated Trump on his Truth Social platform. "Dave also served in a leading role in Government Oversight and Reform Committee Hearings, addressing issues within HHS and CDC. Dave has successfully worked with the CDC to enact a ban on patents for human embryos."

Weldon is a stringently anti-abortion activist, who when he served in Congress was involved in legislation to legally protect anti-abortion doctors and restrict the way doctors can perform the procedure.

He is also well known for his role in the Terri Schiavo controversy, where after a Florida woman suffered brain death, Congress attempted to intervene against her husband's right to terminate life support. Weldon in particular used his credentials as a doctor to dispute Schiavo's diagnosis.

The CDC played a critically important role in trying to maintain public safety at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, and is year to year a frontline agency monitoring disease outbreaks and potential pandemics as they develop.

This comes after Trump announced several other appointments to key health positions, including a Fox News regular to serve as surgeon general, and, most controversially, anti-vaccine conspiracy theorist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to lead the Department of Health and Human Services.