Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has publicly challenged Pennsylvania Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiros claims about the contents of the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine, intensifying an already heated national debate over vaccines, religious liberty and government credibility.
During a news conference, Shapiro accused Kennedy of spreading vaccine misinformation and linked that alleged misinformation to the reported measles-associated deaths of two people in Lancaster County, a characterization county officials have since disputed. According to Western Journal, Shapiro used the moment to frame Kennedy and the Trump administration as undermining public health, even as questions mounted about the accuracy of the states own claims.
In recounting a recent phone call with Kennedy, Shapiro told reporters, I was very, very blunt with him and I made very clear that his actions and the rhetoric thats coming from this administration are having a negative impact on communities across America, particularly right here in Pennsylvania. He then escalated his criticism, insisting, Theres real life consequences to spreading misinformation. There are real-life consequences to scaring people and not relying on actual doctors and actual medical professionals to provide unbiased information to parents so that we can make reasonable decisions for our kids.
Shapiro further argued that dissent from the governments preferred vaccine narrative is inherently harmful, declaring, Sharing conspiracy theories and misinformation does not help the cause of public health. He specifically rejected Kennedys contention that some Americans have religious objections to the MMR vaccine because of its connection to fetal tissue, flatly stating there is no fetal tissue in the shot.
Kennedy responded forcefully on X, accusing the governor of misrepresenting both his position and the underlying science. At his press conference today, Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro accused me of promoting conspiracy theories because I told him, during an earlier telephone conversation, that some Americans had religious objections to the MMR vaccine because it contained fetal tissue. There is no fetal tissue in the MMR, he told me, Kennedy wrote.
To support his argument, Kennedy posted video testimony from Dr. Stanley Plotkin, the scientist who developed the rubella component of the MMR vaccine, according to the Smithsonian. In that testimony, Kennedy said, Plotkin admits to butchering 76 aborted normally developing fetuses, all over three months old, in just one of the many studies that led to the development of his vaccine, highlighting the ethical and religious concerns many pro-life Americans have long raised about vaccine development.
Kennedy went on to describe in detail how the rubella portion of the vaccine is produced, directly contradicting Shapiros sweeping denial. The rubella virus used in MMR-II is grown on the cultured cell line composed of lung tissue from an aborted three-month-old female embryo and listed as WI-38 human diploid lung fibroblasts in the ingredients of MMR-II as portions of these cells end up in each vial of MMR II, he added.
He then underscored the scale of the fetal DNA fragments he says are present in each dose. This equals approximately 646 billion pieces of human DNA from an aborted fetal cell line in each vial of MMR-II. In addition to the human DNA, there is also an unspecified amount of human cellular debris in each dose of MMR-II, the HHS secretary said, arguing that Americans deserve transparency rather than dismissive talking points.
The American Academy of Pediatrics, however, disputes Kennedys characterization, offering a more sanitized description of the process on its website. It states, Vaccines do not contain fetal cells. Some vaccines involve growing viruses in human cell cultures originally developed from two aborted fetuses in the 1960s. These cell lines are still going, so no new aborted fetuses are ever needed. Purification processes filter the vaccine during production, and no fetal tissue remains.
Kennedy, for his part, said Shapiros accusations of misinformation were long on rhetoric and short on specifics. During our phone conversation, Governor Shapiro also accused me of promoting vaccine misinformation. When I asked him for an example, he was unable to provide one, but this did not deter him from publicly repeating that accusation during his press event, Kennedy continued.
He also argued that the real misinformation problem lies with the current White House and its allies, not with those raising legitimate questions. RFK Jr. noted that he offered to point to hundreds of instances of vaccine misinformation from the Biden administration about which the governor remained quiet, suggesting a partisan double standard in what is labeled disinformation.
Shapiro additionally tried to blame Kennedy for a modest decline in childhood vaccination rates in Pennsylvania, a claim Kennedy said collapses under scrutiny. Governor Shapiro also faulted me for the decline in Pennsylvania vaccination rates from 97% 93.2%. When I pushed back on this assertion, he acknowledged that most of the decline occurred during the Biden administration. Its unfortunately true that the government lockdowns, deceptions, manipulation, and overreach during Covid severely damaged public faith in the vaccine program, Kennedy asserted.
Kennedy argued that Shapiros press event was emblematic of the very tactics that have eroded public confidence in health authorities. He concluded, Governor Shapiros press conference was an example of the same species of gaslighting. The Trump administration is working to restore public trust not by gaslighting or manipulating, but by being truthful, at last, with the public.
Despite the medias attempt to portray him as anti-vaccine, Kennedy reiterated that his position on measles immunization is more nuanced than his critics admit. At a news conference in Tampa, he pointed out, Our advice is that people should get the measles vaccination, adding, There are certain communities and certain religious communities that do not want to do that, and we want to take care of those kids as well, Politico reported, noting that the MMR vaccine is among the 11 that HHS recommends children receive.
Meanwhile, Shapiros dramatic claim that two Pennsylvanians had died from measles is facing serious pushback from local officials on the ground. Seemingly refuting the governors narrative, Lancaster County coroner Dr. Stephen Diamantoni said this week that no measles deaths were handled by our office, LancasterOnline.com reported, raising questions about how the state is classifying and communicating such cases.
Lancaster County Commissioner Josh Parsons, a Republican, went further, publicly challenging the states numbers and process. He posted Wednesday on X, Any deaths from measles are required by law to be reported to the Lancaster County Coroners Office. I have spoken at length with both a senior staff member from that office and the Coroner himself.
Parsons then detailed what county officials actually know, which appears to diverge sharply from Shapiros rhetoric. Parsons continued, They currently have zero measles deaths in Lancaster County. They have one death of a person who died WITH measles, but not from measles. We do not know if the state is counting that one. Nor do we know anything about the other death that officials reported yesterday.
The clash between Kennedy and Shapiro thus highlights a broader national divide over who gets to define truth in public health and how far government should go in policing dissent. For many conservatives, Kennedys insistence on transparency about fetal cell lines, his criticism of Biden-era overreach and his willingness to challenge inflated or misleading state claims on measles deaths underscore a basic point: Americans are more likely to trust vaccine guidance when officials stop weaponizing the term misinformation and start answering hard questions honestly.
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