Whopper of the Week: It Takes a Village and RFK Jr. Is the Village Idiot

Whopper of the Week: 

It Takes a Village and RFK Jr. Is the Village Idiot

SUMMARY: 

This Sunday is Mother’s Day. Secretary of Health and Human Services Kennedy often calls out moms as his biggest supporters. His message to women sounds like praise and empowerment, but he's actually shifting the burden of evaluating scientific studies onto moms. That’s unfair and dangerous.

For example, last January Kennedy was interviewed by Katie Miller, and she asked what vaccines he recommends mothers give their babies. Kennedy said he’s not a doctor and does not give personal medical advice, but he added: “I would say to people is do your own research,” and “This idea that you should trust the experts, a good mother doesn’t do that.” Kennedy elevates the importance of mothers in their family’s health, but also implicitly isolates them, making them solely responsible for decisions he ominously says could “alter [their babies’] immune system forever.” 

Raising children is complicated and full of challenges. For Mother’s Day, let’s talk about what public health, and the Secretary of Health and Human Services, could actually do to make mothering less stressful.

WHY IS THIS A WHOPPER?

Think about what “do your own research” really means. If your car starts making odd noises and won’t go over 25 miles per hour, would you “do your own research,” or would you take it to a trained mechanic with the knowledge and equipment needed to diagnose and fix the problem? Why would you trust something way more complex and precious -- your child's life and health -- to your own ability to figure it out without any guidance from those who've spent their whole careers learning how to keep kids healthy?

Defend Public Health has already argued that Kennedy is actively working to undermine the very concept of public health expertise. He is hollowing out trust, claiming that scientists, doctors and health care institutions are corrupt, as a way of silencing their protests, while the administration dismantles key services and programs. 

Instead, Kennedy promotes the idea that “common sense” and maternal instinct should underpin health decision-making. Parents make choices daily about nutrition, sleep, and activities that affect their children’s well-being. But it is deeply misleading to suggest that parents can anticipate, understand or protect children from health risks just by asking questions and searching the internet. There are factors far beyond the control of individuals at play. A mother cannot control which pathogens circulate in her community. She cannot choose air and water quality or dictate road safety. She does not set the standards for hospital safety or licensed providers. The average parent doesn’t know vaccination rates in the local schools or whether other parents keep their firearms secured. 

Health outcomes, mental and physical, are shaped by a complex web of social, economic, geographic, and institutional factors. Government public health agencies exist to study how these factors affect the health of children. Based on extensive research, these agencies then provide guidance on ways to prevent exposure to health hazards and evaluate the safety of those approaches. Mothers need that expertise to help keep their children safe. A busy mom just can’t do it alone.

How can we really help moms? Last month Defend Public Health published the People’s Health Platform, a vision for what U.S. public health should be in the future. A supportive health platform for mothers would include:

• Guaranteed health care for all with:
  • Access to birth control and abortion care.
  • Early and consistent prenatal care.
  • A nearby, well staffed hospital with obstetric services.
  • Routine pediatric care, including access to childhood vaccines.
• Clear, science-based information about pregnancy and infant health and training to recognize disinformation.
• Reliable public health data and information, including about outbreaks.
• Access to adequate, healthy food and nutritional programs if needed.
• Safe living environments—clean air, clean water, fluoridation.
• Regulated medical products that have been tested for safety and efficacy.

Unfortunately, the United States has failed to universally provide these services; in some cases they are being further dismantled under the Trump administration. 
 

WHY IT MATTERS?

It takes a village to raise a child, as Hillary Clinton reminded us 30 years ago! A functioning village in the modern world does not reject the expertise of its scientists and doctors. It does not deny that there are disparities in health outcomes. It does not dismantle public health institutions. It does not hide data about outbreaks or censor research.  A functioning village recognizes that that we need people who have technical knowledge and practical experience to help moms make good decisions collectively. Only then can moms really focus on their individual family’s needs.  

Kennedy’s alternative, a world where each parent acts as their own doctor, researcher, and regulator, is not just impractical, it’s dangerous. His rantings against vaccines, anti-depressants, ADHD drugs, fluoride, abortion medicines, and mRNA technologies make him sound like the village idiot or the quintessential quack hawking vitamins, supplements, peptides, and tanning beds.  

A “good mother” in the twenty-first century should not have to interpret scientific and medical research articles on her own, without the help from those who’ve spent decades learning to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of health products. American moms deserve a brighter future than Kennedy’s “you’re on your own” approach.
 

Contributors to this post are:  Benedicte Callan, Ph.D., Bruce Mirken, Aurora Horstkamp, M.D., Kathylynn Saboda, M.S., Erica Bersin, BCPA