Washington D.C. – In the latest vindictive act from the petty Trump administration, the Washington Post reports that RFK Jr’s HHS has “terminated seven grants totaling millions of dollars to the American Academy of Pediatrics, including for initiatives on reducing sudden infant deaths, improving adolescent health, preventing fetal alcohol syndrome and identifying autism early.”
The Trump health department’s pathetic excuses for the shock claw-back of critical federal aid supporting children’s health includes the AAP’s use of supposed “identity-based language.”Kennedy has had a political axe to grind against the nation’s pediatricians for months due to their outspoken concerns about the administration’s objectively harmful attacks on long-proven safe and effective vaccines, including treatment against COVID-19 and hepatitis B. The American Academy of Pediatrics was among the trusted medical groups Kennedy “kicked out” of CDC vaccine workgroups in August.
“The Trump administration is once again abusing its power to exact political revenge against its critics with no regard for the innocent Americans they hurt in the process — in this case, American children,” said Kayla Hancock, Director of Public Health Watch, a project of Protect Our Care. “Secretary Kennedy doesn’t even have the guts to admit what these harmful grant terminations are really about. He simply doesn’t like that the medical professionals who know what’s best for children’s health have pushed back on his baseless anti-vaccine claims and policies with actual peer-reviewed data that affirms vaccine safety. Rather than consider the real evidence that clearly contradicts his dangerous agenda, Trump’s thin-skinned health secretary is instead doubling down on efforts to silence scientists. Putting these grants on the chopping block will only leave America’s kids more vulnerable to chronic disease and future health crises. The sooner Kennedy resigns or is fired, the more American lives will be saved.”
###