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Last week, the Trump administration proposed a regulation that, if not undone by the president taking office in 2029, would end the uninterrupted practice—one almost as old as our nation—of collecting race and ethnicity in the decennial census. This proposal would impair public health and cost numerous Americans their lives.

The most widely reported part of the regulation was the decision not to count noncitizens without green cards, a change that could have radical implications for future elections and billions in federal funding. But the race and ethnicity change is also important and could trigger large implications for public health.

As we have argued in recent academic research, race and ethnicity data are key in understanding population health outcomes. Our article shows that racial health disparities come from both differences in exposure to environmental stressors and different underlying vulnerability stemming from, for instance, genetics or access to healthcare.

The resulting differences can be stark. For instance, Black children are 60 percent more likely than U.S. children overall to have asthma and four and a half times more likely to die from it. Hispanic women have a 40 percent higher incidence of cervical cancer and 20 percent higher death rate from it compared to non-Hispanic white women. And Asian Americans have extremely elevated rates of certain diseases, including........

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