For Sen. Maggie Hassan, the falsehoods that have been spread about any link between vaccines and autism are beyond the pale—and hit close to home.
The Democratic senator from New Hampshire on Thursday confronted one of the most influential disseminators of this conspiracy theory, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., at his confirmation hearing to potentially become the next Secretary of Health and Human Services under the Trump administration.
Numerous studies have shown no link between autism and vaccines and the National Institute of Health calls any claims to the contrary “nonscientific” and “pure myths.” The conspiracy theory came from paper published in the journal The Lancet, which claimed to have results from a study showing a definitive link between the MMR vaccine and autism. However, the paper was later found to be “flawed by severe research misconduct, conflict of interests, and probably falsehood” and the article was retracted.
Despite this, Kennedy has been one of the loudest champions for the debunked theory, founding an anti-vaccine nonprofit and saying as recently as 2023 that vaccines caused autism. According to the Associated Press, he has taken a step back from this advocacy since being the HHS nominee.
At Tuesday’s hearing, Hassan asked Kennedy directly about his role in spreading this misinformation. She explained that for her, the lies felt personal.
“I am the proud mother of a 36 years old young man with severe cerebral palsy,” she said, growing emotional. “And a day does not go by when I don’t think about what I did I do when I was pregnant with him that might’ve caused the hydrocephalus that has so impacted his life. So please do not suggest that anybody in this body of either political party doesn’t want to know what the cause of autism is.”
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She continued: “So, please do not suggest that anybody in this body of either political party doesn’t want to know what the cause of autism is. Do you know how many friends with children who have autism?”
Hassan said that when she first read of a possible connection between vaccines and autism, it “rocked her world.” She immediately wondered if it was possible a vaccine had also done something to her son. But then, she said, she watched as the study was retracted and other studies showed it wasn’t accurate.
“Because sometimes science is wrong,” she said. “We make progress, we build on the work, and we become more successful. And, when you continue to sow doubt about settled science, it makes it impossible for us to move forward.”
Sen. Hassan has said that one of her motivations for entering politics was to ensure that people with disabilities like her son, Ben, would be able to have the same opportunities as any other person.
Kennedy is facing numerous challenges as he attempts to be confirmed as the nation’s top expert on public health on his controversial or just plain wacky views, from encouraging people to drink raw milk to saying he wants to remove fluoride from water.
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