TX Stand w/Science After RFK Jr. Appoints Anti-Vaccine Activists to Autism Panel

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. just appointed 21 new members to the federal Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee, most of whom support the debunked claim that vaccines cause autism (STAT, January 28, 2026). Studies involving 1.8 million children across multiple countries prove no link exists. Kennedy has fired CDC staff, replaced vaccine advisory panels with conspiracy theorists, altered government websites to cast doubt on vaccine safety without new evidence, and terminated hundreds of millions in vaccine research. The American Medical Association and major medical organizations warn these actions will cost lives. Our federal leaders failed us. Senator Bill Cassidy voted to confirm Kennedy despite reservations and has done nothing but tweet objections. Twenty states led by New York have sued Kennedy over illegal HHS restructuring (May 2025). Twenty-three states sued over $11 billion in terminated public health grants (April 2025). Medical organizations won a preliminary injunction blocking Kennedy’s vaccine recommendation changes (January 2026). I urge you to direct the Texas Department of State Health Services to issue independent vaccine guidance based on medical evidence, fund a public health campaign countering vaccine misinformation, join multistate legal challenges to Kennedy’s unlawful policies, and publicly condemn the appointment of conspiracy theorists to scientific positions. Texas must protect our residents when Washington abandons science for ideology.