[ [link removed] ]RFK Jr.'s key confirmation hearings start this Wednesday! Add your name
to OPPOSE his nomination to the Department of Health and Human Services.
Dear MoveOn member,
Laura from Voices of Health Care Action again. Wednesday is RFK Jr.'s
Senate confirmation hearing to decide if the Senate committee will advance
his nomination to lead the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
His nomination rightfully faces mounting opposition from across political
spectrums for his dangerous anti-vaccination beliefs, his inexperience and
inability to successfully run such a large government agency handling
health care for hundreds of millions of Americans, and his inconsistency
when it comes to reproductive health care. But with Republicans set on
advancing every single one of President Donald Trump's unpopular Cabinet
nominees, we have to keep up the public pressure and urge the Senate to
block his nomination.
[ [link removed] ]Will you join the more than 39,000 MoveOn members who have signed the
petition opposing RFK Jr.'s nomination to lead the Department of Health
and Human Services?
In 2023, RFK Jr. wrote that "[t]here is virtually no science assessing the
overall health effects of the vaccination schedule or its component
vaccines."^1 This is not only scary—it's completely baseless.
Let's be clear: Vaccines have successfully eradicated smallpox, nearly
eradicated polio, and have dramatically reduced mortality rates for
diseases like the measles.^2 The World Health Organization (WHO) has
estimated at least 154 million lives have been saved globally due to
immunization efforts.^3 But President Donald Trump directing the U.S. to
exit WHO and nominating a notorious anti-vaxxer like RFK Jr. to lead the
HHS threatens the progress we've made here and globally when it comes to
public health.
And it's not just his views on vaccines that are dangerous. It's also
reported that RFK Jr. has told close Trump allies that he will restore
anti-abortion policies from the first Trump administration—putting privacy
laws and the right to access to abortion pills at risk.^4 RFK Jr., who has
been inconsistent in his stance on abortion, seems to be falling in line
with the Trump administration and extreme anti-abortion zealots determined
to help pave RFK Jr.’s path to power as long as he delivers on their
unpopular agenda.^5
[ [link removed] ]RFK Jr. is a dangerous threat to America's health. We have to do
everything we can this week to oppose his nomination! Will you add your
name?
Thanks for all you do.
–Laura Packard, Voices of Health Care Action
P.S. See my email from earlier this month to read more about why RFK Jr.
is unfit to lead the Department of Health and Human Services.
Sources:
1. "RFK Jr. faces mounting bipartisan criticism," The Hill, January 23,
2025
[ [link removed] ][link removed]
2. "Achievements in Public Health, 1900-1999 Impact of Vaccines
Universally Recommended for Children--United States, 1990-1998," Morbidity
and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR), April 2, 1999
[link removed]
3. "Global immunization efforts have saved at least 154 million lives over
the past 50 years," World Health Organization, April 24, 2024
[ [link removed] ][link removed]
4. "Anti-abortion groups have 2 asks. RFK Jr. is listening." Politico,
November 20, 2024
[link removed]
5. Ibid.
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[ [link removed] ]Join Health Care Voices in telling Congress: RFK Jr. is not fit to lead
the Department of Health and Human Services!
Dear MoveOn member,
Laura from Health Care Voices here. In less than two weeks Donald Trump
will be inaugurated, and he has already started working to push through
his blatantly disqualified and harmful Cabinet nominees. Health care
advocates, people with serious medical conditions, and their loved ones
are deeply concerned about the public health effects of appointing Robert
F. Kennedy Jr. to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). We
are running out of time, and we have to mobilize NOW to block this
dangerous nomination.
RFK Jr. has already met with dozens of senators, and while many senators
support his nomination following his pledge to support Trump's "pro-life"
agenda, a few are skeptical after his latest proposals on polio and
measles vaccines. It will take just a few Republican senators to block his
nomination. But we are running out of time, and we have to mobilize NOW to
block this dangerous nomination.
[ [link removed] ]Will you join together with people who care about the safety and health
of our country and sign the petition specifically opposing RFK Jr.'s
nomination?
The HHS is responsible for overseeing critical research treatments and
cures for infectious diseases. But RFK Jr. does not believe infectious
diseases are an enormous threat to public health. How can we trust this
person to keep us safe and make progress to make our communities safer?
We don't have to guess what harm RFK Jr.'s dangerous anti-vaccine crusade
will do in our communities. We've already seen the damage in places like
Samoa, where anti-vaccine activists spreading disinformation—with RFK Jr.
himself as one of the leading voices—led to a preventable and
heartbreaking outbreak of measles just five years ago, killing dozens of
children.^1 His beliefs are not just fringe—they are deadly.
Right now, with outbreaks of H5N1 (bird flu) occurring in animals in the
U.S., it's terrifying to think how an anti-science conspiracy theorist
like RFK Jr.—and the individuals he will hire and appoint to major
agencies—will handle infectious disease outbreaks like this.
[ [link removed] ]RFK Jr.'s appointment is reckless and irresponsible. And it's the duty
of Congress to protect the American people and BLOCK his nomination. Will
you sign the petition against RFK Jr.'s appointment in the name of public
health?
Congress must protect public health by opposing RFK Jr.'s appointment to
the Department of Health and Human Services!
[9]Sign the petition
Even the American Public Health Association released a statement saying
that "America deserves better than RFK Jr."^2
The Department of Health and Human Services employs 80,000 individuals and
has a budget of over $1 trillion. It oversees drug, vaccine, and food
safety, as well as critical research and social service programs like
Medicare and Medicaid. And it also oversees 13 important subagencies,
including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the
Food and Drug Administration (FDA).^3 RFK Jr. has no experience running a
government agency, let alone an organization this big and this important.
[ [link removed] ]RFK Jr. would send us further backward and put our families and
communities at greater risk of harm. Will you add your name to the
petition?
We need individuals who believe in science and scientific evidence, and
who will lead with integrity and in the best interest of the public. RFK
Jr. has failed to demonstrate the basic qualifications for this role. And
our elected officials need to demonstrate political courage and oppose
this nomination.
[ [link removed] ]Click here to add your name to the petition and show the overwhelming
public opposition to RFK Jr. for secretary of HHS.
Thanks for all you do.
–Laura Packard, Voices of Health Care Action
Sources:
1. "I'm the Governor of Hawaii. I've Seen What Vaccine Skepticism Can
Do." The New York Times, January 7, 2025
[link removed]
2. "America deserves better than RFK Jr," American Public Health
Association, November 18, 2024
[ [link removed] ][link removed]
3. "'He's not a manager': Former RFK Jr. staffers on how he'd run HHS,"
Politico, November 28, 2024
[ [link removed] ][link removed]
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