Blood on His Hands

Susan Estrich on Aug 29, 2026

On Tuesday, authorities in Pennsylvania reported two deaths from measles. Both of the patients were unvaccinated. Measles is reportedly ravaging Pennsylvania's Lancaster County, where 70 people have been hospitalized so far and hundreds infected. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has so far this year reported 2,777 cases nationwide, the highest level since 1991.

And what does every responsible public health official say and do in response to these numbers? The message is simple, or it should be. Vaccines are the best option to protect against measles. This has been Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro's message, who has accused Kennedy of spreading misinformation. Even the CDC is encouraging vaccination. Not the Trump administration's Mr. Health. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. responded to the deaths in Pennsylvania with lies and misrepresentations.

On the very same day that Pennsylvania announced these deaths, Kennedy posted on social media that one of the scientists who contributed to the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine had admitted to "butchering" aborted fetuses during studies in the 1960s. He also said the MMR vaccine included "646 billion pieces of human DNA" and "an unspecified amount of human cellular debris."

Kennedy knows better and doesn't care. No one butchered anyone. The rubella portion of the vaccine reportedly has its lineage from human cell cultures procured from two elective abortions in 1962; in fact, the cells they used to grow weakened viruses had been propagating in a lab for years. And then each vaccine goes through a purification process which clears out any trace of that "debris." But why reassure people that they can safely protect their children when you can get in a round of abortion politics? Is this how Kennedy scores political points in Trump-land?

Notwithstanding his false assurances to senators that he would not go on an anti-vaccine diatribe, that is precisely what he has done. He has repeatedly claimed a frightening connection between vaccinations and autism, confounding the experts who know better and confusing parents. On Wednesday, Kennedy had the audacity to blame the drop in measles vaccinations -- like the economy, gas prices, the war in Iran and everything else --on the Biden administration when his own actions are sure to drive those numbers further downward.

Then there is the great quote from Kennedy's appearance in Lancaster in 2021: "What is the cure for measles? Cure for measles is chicken soup and vitamin A and neither of those things can be patented," he told the crowd at an Amish country fair. "Those agencies (the ones he runs) are going to do everything in their power to make the Amish vaccinate," he said. "Because they cannot stand the fact that you are healthy." They are not healthy anymore.

And the trend for the future is bleaker still. The number of American parents who sought exemptions from required school vaccines went up sharply across the nation in the past year. Unfortunately, the evidence suggests that Robert Kennedy Jr's message is getting across and that means sickness and death will follow. How can he not have blood on his hands?

In the meantime, Kennedy continues to attack Shapiro, going so far as to suggest on Friday that "the deaths may even have been altogether fabricated by one of the Governor's hopeful staffers." There is, of course, no evidence of that. In fact, Shapiro's office reached out to the Secretary to join him in encouraging vaccinations. He chose to spread the opposite message instead. He bears responsibility for the consequences.

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