More than 100 Missoula scientists and activists gathered this weekend to demonstrate against political interference in science.
“For those of us who have kids, or those of us who survived childhood and appreciate that we did not get polio or smallpox or measles, I’d like you to say, ‘Stand Up for Science,’” a speaker urged the crowd.
“Stand up for science!” the crowd chanted.
That refrain – “stand up for science” – echoed repeatedly over the Missoula courthouse lawn over the weekend. The nationwide rally is a repeat of last year’s demonstration in the early days of the second Trump administration. Then, officials were slashing the federal workforce and moving to gut funding for academic research.
Attendees at this year’s Stand Up for Science event said the damage from those actions has, in their view, been devastating.
“I am outraged by the disregard for science and facts,” Clinical Psychologist Alison Cobb of Missoula said. Cobb said she attended the rally to build community and build pressure on the Trump administration to embrace evidence-backed science. Cobb pointed to a new report by The Lancet that showed emergency rooms ordered less Tylenol after President Trump said it would increase the risk of autism developing in pregnant women’s babies. Doctors say that claim is unsupported.
“It matters. They can’t just say things like this and think that it has no impact. People’s health is at risk,” Cobb said.
Missoula’s “Singing Resistance” group led attendees in science-themed songs to open and close the rally.
