RFK Jr., the secretary of health and human services, has promoted unfounded allegations that the MMR vaccine includes “a lot of aborted fetus debris.” He said that this “debris” is the reason why many religious groups do not receive vaccinations during a town hall session on Newsnation on Wednesday.
The allegation coincides with a severe measles outbreak in Texas that has already killed two children in a low-vaccination Mennonite community. Kennedy Jr., who has long been criticized for his remarks regarding vaccines, has promised to look into the vaccination schedule for children.
RFK Jr on measles: “The MMR vaccine contains a lot of aborted fetus debris.” pic.twitter.com/wq7S3xssl7
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) May 1, 2025
Despite this, Kennedy Jr. urged parents to “consult with their healthcare providers to understand their options to get the MMR vaccine” in an op-ed he wrote for Fox News in March. However, he also reaffirmed his long-held belief that vaccination is a personal choice.
Kennedy Jr. made the remarks about the aborted fetus after being asked about his stance on vaccines, which some have criticized for being ambiguous. He praised the United States’ response to its outbreak and then said: “There are populations in our country, like the Mennonites in Texas, who are most afflicted and they have religious objections to the vaccination – because the MMR vaccine contains a lot of aborted fetus debris and DNA particles, so they don’t wanna take it,” as reported by The Sun.
“So we oughta be able to take care of those populations when they get sick,” he said, “and that’s something that the CDC has not done.”
Although the MMR vaccination is made with human cell lines derived from two legal abortions performed in the 1960s, the finished product does not contain these cells. The Vaccine Education Center at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia says that “the cells used to grow viruses for vaccines are sometimes called fetal cells because they were originally derived from two fetuses in the 1960s,” but the center emphasizes that “fetal cells are not in the vaccine itself.”
Since these original cells have been multiplied throughout time, descendant cells—rather than any tissue from the original fetuses—are used in the present vaccine production process. Certain vaccinations, such as MMR, are produced using the particular cell lines MRC-5 and WI-38. These lines offer a productive way to cultivate viruses for live-attenuated vaccinations.
Since these cells have been replicated millions of times over the last few decades, current production does not necessitate the use of extra fetal tissue or the continuation of abortions.
What?!?!
HHS Scty RFK, Jr. asserted that MMR vaccines contain “aborted fetal parts” to explain why some Mennonites refuse vaccines.
We know Kennedy is a crazed conspiracist, but he’s using his position to spread outright lies.
He’s a human public health catastrophe and, mark my…
— Irwin Redlener, MD (@IrwinRedlenerMD) May 1, 2025
“The ingredients of vaccines are listed on the package inserts and do not include ‘aborted fetal tissue.’ The cells originally used are not part of the final vaccine,” the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia says in its Q&A sheet on the topic.
RFK Jr. said: “CDC says the only thing that we have is vaccination – there’s all kinds of treatments when people do get sick and those people (people like the Mennonites) should be treated with compassion.
“And we oughta have good treatments for them and that’s what we’re developing at the CDC right now – protocols for treating measles.”
According to the Texas Department of State Health Services, 663 instances have been reported in Texas since late January, resulting in 67 hospitalizations and two school-aged kid deaths. The agency is investigating the outbreak and increasing immunizations in collaboration with the CDC.
