RFK Jr. Spreads Misleading Measles Vaccine Claim Amid U.S. Outbreaks

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a prominent vaccine skeptic, on Wednesday baselessly claimed that the measles vaccine “contains a lot of aborted fetus debris and DNA particles.”

During an appearance on NewsNation, Kennedy said the U.S. is faring much better in containing its epidemic compared to other countries facing measles outbreaks, adding that the number of cases has “plateaued.”

“Now, there are populations in our country, like the Mennonites in Texas, who were most afflicted, and they have religious objections to vaccination, because the MMR vaccine contains a lot of aborted fetus debris and DNA particles, so they don’t want to take it,” Kennedy added.

Kennedy’s statement is misleading. “Even though fetal cells are used to grow vaccine viruses, vaccines do not contain these cells or pieces of DNA that are recognizable as human DNA,” the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia notes.

His claim echoes misinformation spread around the COVID-19 vaccine. The University of California, Los Angeles Health debunked that claim, explaining that none of the COVID shots contained aborted fetal cells.

“However, Johnson & Johnson did use fetal cell lines — not fetal tissue — when developing and producing their vaccine, while Pfizer and Moderna used fetal cell lines to test their vaccines and make sure that they work,” their website states.

“Fetal cell lines are grown in a laboratory and were started with cells from elective abortions that occurred several decades ago in the 1970s-80s,” it adds. “None of the COVID-19 vaccines use fetal cells derived from recent abortions.”

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported 884 cases of measles in 30 U.S. jurisdictions as of Friday. Texas, one of the states affected, has recorded 663 cases since late January, mainly in the western part of the state, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services. Two children in the state who lived in the outbreak area and had not been vaccinated have died.

Still, Kennedy claimed the media is spending a disproportionate amount of time reporting on measles.

“They only want to cover measles,” he said.

While Kennedy has conceded that the MMR vaccine is the “most effective way to prevent the spread of measles,” he has made questionable statements about it, including that it hasn’t been “safely tested.”