Allies of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s “Make America Healthy Again” (MAHA) movement believe the White House’s recent announcement on autism could mobilize voters for Republicans in the midterm elections, Axios reports.
The White House last month released a press release that linked “prenatal acetaminophen exposure” to autism, a link that autism experts denied in testimony before the House Democratic Policy Committee this week.
This press release and Kennedy’s rhetoric on autism have sparked backlash from critics who argue that framing autism as a disease to be prevented — rather than a condition to be better understood and supported — risks alienating families and individuals with autism.
Kennedy, however, argues that families deserve answers. His office noted that autism diagnoses have surged nearly 400% since 2000, now affecting 1 in 31 children. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), autism rates have climbed steadily, though experts attribute the rise largely to expanded diagnostic criteria, heightened awareness, and improved screening rather than vaccines or medication use.
At a recent MAHA Institute event in Washington, Kennedy’s supporters celebrated what they see as a shift from labeling autism as purely genetic and immutable to a more action-oriented approach. But Republican strategists warn that Kennedy’s theories could undermine broader GOP health messaging.
Polling shows the risks: A Quinnipiac survey last month found Kennedy’s approval rating falling, with 57% of voters expressing little confidence in his medical claims. Leading Republicans, including Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., and Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., have urged caution about promoting weakly supported health theories.
Kennedy’s team, however, insists the focus on autism will galvanize frustrated parents and reinforce populist calls for “medical freedom” heading into the midterms.
“It’s a huge issue and going to be an important part of the midterm election,” said Republican lobbyist Marty Irby, who previously represented the conservative education advocacy group Moms for America, which is aligned with the MAHA movement.
“Whether it’s the food we eat, whether it’s the vaccines, whether it’s the drugs that the pregnant mother takes — it’s definitely something that mothers across America are paying attention to,” he said.
“It feels like there’s been a paradigm shift from ‘It’s genetic, and there’s nothing you can do,'” Dawn Loughborough, a parent of an adult child with autism who attended the MAHA Institute event, told Axios. “Autism is finally being acknowledged. I’m thrilled this administration is acting.”
Mainstream science has repeatedly found no link between vaccines and autism, a claim that originated with a now-discredited 1998 study in The Lancet. Health authorities including the CDC and World Health Organization (WHO) have long warned that such claims endanger public trust in lifesaving vaccines.
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