MAHA: Anti-Science or Public Good?

As Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. furthers the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) movement, media outlets are also furthering respective criticism and praise. 

The Details: The MAHA movement successfully pushed forth around 30 bills in 12 states. Many garnered support from various groups such as the National Vaccine Information Center and the Religious Liberty Commission. Many relate to vaccine policies by increasing regulations and decreasing discriminatory measures against unvaccinated people. 

Anti-Vaccine? Media on the left tend to be more critical of the MAHA movement, framing Kennedy as “anti-vaccine” and giving a more prominent voice to those who oppose his policies. Conversely, media on the right often focus on Kennedy’s successes and frame his controversial policies more positively, omitting critics’ drawbacks. Associated Press (Left bias) released an extensive piece in October, declaring that the bills are “part of an organized, politically savvy campaign to enshrine a conspiracy theory-driven agenda into law.” The outlet framed the bills as an “anti-science” push from the Trump administration, while saying a certain vaccine mandate for animals that was barred by the MAHA movement was “science-driven” and “would[‘ve] protect[ed] people.”

Public Good? Fox News (Right) asserted in its “Timeline of the MAHA movement” that many people “have embraced the widespread effort to improve public health.” It highlighted the MAHA website’s agenda “to improve nutrition, eliminate toxins, preserve natural habitats and fight the chronic disease epidemic in this country,” and focused on the movement’s less controversial measures such as increasing the transparency of healthcare prices.

For Context: Kennedy is known to be skeptical of some vaccines, staunchly opposing vaccine mandates and promoting more natural – yet controversial – forms of preventative medicine such as raw milk. HHS halted about $500 million in federal funding for mRNA vaccine development in August, in a supposed shift towards “safer, broader vaccine platforms.”

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