BY: JOSEPH DEBELL / OPINION EDITOR
Photo Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
The ongoing measles outbreak in Texas and New Mexico is not just a risk to public health — it’s a consequence of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s anti-vaccine crusade.
Kennedy faces his first real question as the new Secretary of Health and Human Services — will he do his job and help contain the outbreak, or will he double down on the junk science he has spent decades pushing and put more American lives at risk?
For years, RFK Jr. has been the country’s loudest vaccine skeptic, peddling long-debunked myths linking childhood vaccines to autism.
His influence has helped weaken public trust in science — leading to plummeting vaccination rates and the resurgence of deadly diseases that were had already eradicated.
With measles spreading in areas where vaccine exemptions are high, we are witnessing the results of his rhetoric in real-time.
So far, Kennedy has remained silent on the Texas outbreak.
But his early moves — such as freezing vaccine advisory meetings — make it clear that he has no intention of utilizing the proven medical science that could prevent these outbreaks in the first place.
Kennedy’s toxic legacy of his misinformation campaign is also to blame. Measles is among the most contagious diseases, and even a slight dip in vaccination rates creates the perfect conditions for outbreaks to explode. The fact that measles cases are rising is no coincidence.
If Kennedy continues to push his reckless anti-vaccine ideology, the consequences will be devastating. We are already seeing the impact, and unless he changes course, it will only get worse.
debelljb22@bonaventure.edu
