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State lawmakers say health secretary nominee RFK Jr. would threaten public health in Maine

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State lawmakers say health secretary nominee RFK Jr. would threaten public health in Maine

By Eesha Pendharkar
State lawmakers say RFK Jr., Trump’s health nominee, would threaten public health in Maine
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Democratic state Reps. Dan Shagoury from Hallowell and Anne Graham from Yarmouth raised concern about the impact that Robert F. Kennedy Jr., as head of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, would have on public health in Maine during a press conference at the State House on Jan. 14, 2025. (Photo by Eesha Pendharkar/ Maine Morning Star)

Two Maine state representatives are raising concern about Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s nomination to serve as health secretary under President-elect Donald Trump, highlighting his statements against vaccinations, water fluoridation and other common sense public health measures.

At the State House on Tuesday, Democratic state Reps. Dan Shagoury from Hallowell and Anne Graham from Yarmouth joined a public health expert at a press conference organized by Protect Our Care Maine, part of a national organization that launched a campaign opposing Kennedy’s appointment to lead the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

The pair, who both sit on the Legislature’s Health and Human Services Committee, criticized Kennedy’s lack of medical or public health experience, plans to cut funding to research organizations such as the National Institutes of Health, and warned Mainers that his appointment would have adverse effects on the state’s public health.

“I’m very concerned about the impact that a Robert-Kennedy-led DHHS could have on Maine,” said Shagoury. “I say this because Kennedy has repeatedly questioned the efficacy and even the safety of vaccines and vaccinations are an important part of having a productive and healthy society.”

Voters overwhelmingly rejected efforts to weaken a state vaccine law in 2020 after Maine became one of a handful of states to forbid all non-medical exemptions to public school vaccine requirements. Shagoury cited that vote as evidence of state consensus about the importance of vaccines. 

Without vaccination requirements or research, he said Mainers would have reason to be concerned about the resurgence of diseases such as polio.

U.S. Senate confirmation hearings for Trump’s cabinet picks began this week, though a date for Kennedy’s hearing has not yet been set. Independent U.S. Sen. Angus King has said he is concerned about some of Trump’s nominees, including Kennedy. But Republican U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, who sits on the health panel that would hold his confirmation hearing, said in November that it is too soon to say where she stands.

“It’s vitally important that our senators truly consider the detriment to, not only our state, but to America if they appoint RFK Jr.,” said Graham, a retired nurse practitioner who encouraged Mainers to reach out to both senators to advocate against Kennedy’s confirmation.

Deborah Deatrick, the former senior vice president for community health at MaineHealth, said she was concerned about Kennedy’s comments against water fluoridation, which the U.S Centers for Disease Control and Prevention called one of the 10 greatest public health achievements of the 20th century. 

Kennedy wrote on social media before Trump was elected that the new administration would remove fluoride from public water, claiming that the chemical is “industrial waste” linked to cancer and other health issues.

Maine has an unusual fluoridation law, wherein communities with public water supply must vote on fluoridation. About 80% of Maine communities are served by public water systems, and about half of those communities have voted in favor of fluoridation, Deatrick said.

“It’s a hugely beneficial measure. It is something that we need to retain,” Deatrick said.“Communities have actually voted in favor of this measure again and again.”

This story was edited to clarify that Maine voters rejected a 2020 referendum to weaken vaccine laws.