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.
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
–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
https://act.moveon.org/go/201892?t=11&akid=422331%2E40999114%2EQSF6Ty
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
https://act.moveon.org/go/201893?t=13&akid=422331%2E40999114%2EQSF6Ty
3. "Global immunization efforts have saved at least 154 million lives over the past 50 years," World Health Organization, April 24, 2024
https://act.moveon.org/go/201894?t=15&akid=422331%2E40999114%2EQSF6Ty
4. "Anti-abortion groups have 2 asks. RFK Jr. is listening." Politico, November 20, 2024
https://act.moveon.org/go/201895?t=17&akid=422331%2E40999114%2EQSF6Ty
5. Ibid.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
https://act.moveon.org/go/201692?t=25&akid=422331%2E40999114%2EQSF6Ty
2. "America deserves better than RFK Jr," American Public Health Association, November 18, 2024
https://act.moveon.org/go/201693?t=27&akid=422331%2E40999114%2EQSF6Ty
3. "'He's not a manager': Former RFK Jr. staffers on how he'd run HHS," Politico, November 28, 2024
https://act.moveon.org/go/201694?t=29&akid=422331%2E40999114%2EQSF6Ty
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