This was an inspiring if turbulent election year for the health freedom movement — and for anyone concerned about the epidemic of chronic disease that is robbing our children of a healthy future. We at CHD support the vision to end the epidemic of chronic disease and look forward to what comes next.
November 6, 2024
Whether your candidates won or lost last night, I’m sure most of us can agree: It’s a relief to have the elections behind us.
Still, this was an inspiring if turbulent election year for the health freedom movement — and for anyone concerned about the epidemic of chronic disease that is robbing our children of a healthy future.
To recap the last year-and-a-half — on April 19, 2023, our founder, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., took leave from Children’s Health Defense (CHD) to run for president as a Democrat.
About six months later, he switched gears to run as an independent.
Then, on Aug. 23 of this year, Kennedy, the longtime Democrat, suspended his campaign — and in a move that perhaps even he didn’t see coming — he endorsed former President Donald Trump.
Through it all, Kennedy remained true to his commitment: to end the chronic disease epidemic.
He never wavered. For perhaps the first time in history, Kennedy gave children a voice in a national election.
He reminded anyone who would listen that children are not Democrats or Republicans. They’re kids. They’re “swimming around in a toxic soup.” And they need our help.
With Trump’s support, Kennedy and his team launched the Make American Healthy Again campaign. He vowed to do whatever it takes to get toxic chemicals out of our food, our soil, our water and our air.
He promised to take on the FDA, CDC, HHS, NIH, NIAID, USDA, EPA, FCC — and any other federal agency that puts corporate profits ahead of public health.
Perhaps most importantly, Kennedy promised to get to the bottom of why 1 in 33 children in this country has autism.
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Just last week, Kennedy — a member of Trump’s transition team — said that one of his first jobs, if Trump were elected, would be to gain access to the CDC’s vaccine safety data so his team can analyze it to determine if vaccines are as safe as the FDA and CDC say they are.
As with every election season, we’ve heard a lot of promises over these past months. With the election behind us, we at CHD are hopeful that Trump will keep the promises he made to Kennedy — so Kennedy can keep the promises he made to the American people.
Politics aside, I’m hopeful that 2025 will bring truth and transparency to our public health agencies — and health and prosperity for us and future generations.
CHD’s mission is now more important than ever. And for perhaps the first time, our mission appears to be in alignment with the federal government — to expose harms, seek justice and protect children from toxic exposures.
Mary Holland, J.D.
Mary Holland, J.D. is CEO of Children’s Health Defense. She has been writing and advocating for better vaccine law and policy for many years, including while she served on the faculty at NYU School of Law from 2002-19. She is co-author of two books on vaccines, “Vaccine Epidemic” and “The HPV Vaccine on Trial,” as well as several law review articles.