Stop RFK From Destroying Healthcare
Donald Trump wants to put bigoted conspiracy theorist RFK Jr. in charge of public health, but we can still stop him. As head of Health and Human Services, RFK Jr. would have control over every aspect of public health, from the approval of vaccines to how pandemics are managed, and would even have a say in how Medicaid and Medicare are run. He is dangerously unqualified to hold this position.
Simple Decision
Scorecard
RFK Jr. 101:
RFK Jr.’s conspiratorial bigotry would be a threat to the health and security of communities facing systemic oppression, who already face detrimental health outcomes. LGTBQ healthcare will be put at risk by RFK’s baseless beliefs, including that chemical exposure makes kids gay and trans. He has promised Republican Senators that he will restore Trump’s abortion restrictions. The Heritage Foundation, which authored the Project 2025 manifesto, celebrated his nomination. If confirmed, RFK Jr. will be beholden to Donald Trump and serve as a rubber stamp for Project 2025’s most draconian provisions, including the creation of a national abortion surveillance system.
HIV Denial
RFK Jr. believes in bigoted conspiracy theories that could threaten the lives and well being of LGBTQ people if he is given the power to act on them. He has stated that chemicals in the environment are turning children gay and trans and that HIV does not cause AIDS. Ronald Reagan’s handling of the HIV epidemic demonstrates that bigoted public health policy can cut short hundreds of thousands of lives. HIV continues to have a disproportionate impact on people of color and the LGTBQ community: RFK Jr.’s rejection of scientific reality threatens to reverse decades of progress in de-stigmatizing and managing HIV.
Medical Racism
RFK Jr.’s propaganda film Medical Racism exploited the systemic injustice of medical racism to promote anti-vaccine conspiracy theories to Black Americans. The film twisted and misrepresented the work of dedicated scholars and activists in an attempt to scare people from getting vaccinated against COVID-19. He has spread the baseless lie that “People with African blood react differently to vaccines than people with Caucasian blood.” As a private citizen, these actions are despicable. But as the head of the department responsible for approving and recommending vaccines, RFK Jr. could do immeasurable damage.
Compromising Our Collective Immunity
The consequences of an anti-vaccine Secretary of Health and Human Services will disproportionately impact the already structurally marginalized and disabled. Donald Trump wants to give RFK Jr. the power to limit the availability of vaccines, change government recommendations for childhood vaccination, and spread misinformation about the “dangers” of vaccines. When well-meaning parents led by bad actors choose to forgo vaccines, they put not only the lives of their children at risk, but also endanger people with compromised immune systems.
Certain medical conditions, like testing positive for HIV, can make some classes of vaccine risky to receive. People living with these conditions rely on “herd immunity,” to avoid infection. Herd immunity is most effective when everyone who can safely be vaccinated stays up to date on their immunizations. His anti-vaccine advocacy contributed to a measles outbreak in Samoa that killed 83 children and babies. Kennedy’s beliefs have the potential to cause widespread harm, but systematically marginalized communities will suffer the most.
Abortion Surveillance
Trump’s Project 2025 is a horrifying preview of the anti-choice policies RFK Jr. will implement if confirmed. RFK Jr.’s nomination was celebrated by the Heritage Foundation, authors of Project 2025. He has assured MAGA Republicans like Josh Hawley that he will do “whatever President Trump wants.” Anti-abortion extremists are telling us RFK Jr. is on their side: we should believe them. Project 2025 proposes a federal system of abortion surveillance that would assist abortion bounty states in tracking, and prosecuting residents, who cross state lines for reproductive healthcare.