Another deadly MAGA movement lie

In an interview with the New York Times, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. admitted that large-scale epidemiological studies of the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine had found no link to autism, but still insisted that the claim that vaccines do not cause autism is “not evidence-based.” (Nov. 21)

Kennedy’s assertion was also posted on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website, setting off a world-wide media storm with immediate reaction from caregivers.  Kennedy has had no medical education or training.

This statement flows from the deeply held belief in the MAGA movement that rejects science. This movement slanders the facts established through research as “elite, liberal propaganda,” designed to dominate and coerce the choices people make. 

Kennedy argues that people should be free to make decisions about their own health needs. However, these “free” choices can be deadly. According to an estimate in “The Deadly Rise of Anti-Science,” by Peter Hotez, in 2023, around 200,000 people in the United States had their lives shortened when they decided to exercise their right not to get vaccinated against COVID-19 after a vaccine was made available in 2020.

Before he became Health Secretary, Kennedy made a lot of money in consulting and referral fees from law firms suing big pharma vaccine makers, and as president of the Children’s Health Defense, an influential anti-vaccine non-profit organization. CHD has filed numerous lawsuits challenging vaccine mandates and public health measures. Kennedy also profited from a number of book deals.

Vaccine hesitancy

English physician Edward Jenner first developed a vaccine for smallpox at the end of the 1700s, using pus from a related disease called cowpox. During the 1800s there were major safety and purity problems with vaccines, but mandates were established when the problems were resolved and the vaccine’s efficacy in preserving public health became apparent.

From time to time and place to place there have been serious political disagreements over mandates as well as general acceptance when the benefits of the vaccine became obvious, for example, when the polio vaccine was perfected.

People worldwide now live about 40 years longer than they did in the 1800s. Most of this difference is due to the prevention of early death for children, and thus is the effect of vaccines, especially those given in childhood.

What appears to have upset a lot of the experts is that the changes on the CDC website (tinyurl.com/272vnf9e) are going to encourage vaccine hesitancy, especially among parents who want to do the best for their children.

Republican Senator Bill Cassidy from Louisiana, who is chair of the Senate’s health committee, wrote on X: “I’m a doctor who has seen people die from vaccine-preventable diseases. What parents need to hear right now is vaccines for measles, polio, hepatitis B and other childhood diseases are safe and effective and will not cause autism. Any statement to the contrary is wrong, irresponsible, and actively makes Americans sicker.” (Nov. 11)

That two leading bourgeois politicians have such sharp disagreements over health care, one of the most necessary aspects of our lives, indicates how deep the splits in the ruling class have become.