Donald Trump may have ignored and downplayed the dangers of a deadly, raging pathogen in order to boost America’s financial sector, but independent anti-vax candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. wants the whole country to go viral.
And because the pro-measles lobby currently has very little cash on hand, Kennedy was forced to tap über-wealthy opinion-haver Nicole Shanahan—a woman who appears to share many of his anti-vax views—as his running mate. Unfortunately for Kennedy—and fortunately for anyone who’d prefer the government mail them N95 masks during the next pandemic instead of smallpox blankets—the opinions she has are so out of touch with mainstream (as in 21st century) thought, she’s likely to be a drag on the ticket, regardless of how much cash she can bring to his party.
There’s a reason why Republicans—dishonestly, to be clear—rushed to defend in vitro fertilization treatments after the Alabama Supreme Court determined frozen embryos were human beings with an inalienable right to life, liberty, and eventual defrosting. It’s because this particular form of homicide remains super popular among their voters.
In fact, according to a recent POLITICO investigation, Shanahan has been quoted as saying IVF is “one of the biggest lies that’s being told about women’s health today.”
Whoops.
As a candidate, her criticisms of IVF have taken on heightened importance following an Alabama Supreme Court’s ruling that embryos are children, which briefly forced clinics in the states to pause operations. Republicans and Democrats — including both President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump — rushed to defend the procedure, which is broadly popular.
The 38-year-old’s opposition to IVF and skepticism of the fertility industry makes her an outlier in the presidential field — though she has not called for banning the procedure.
Well, at least she hasn’t called for an outright ban. That’s good. She’s just overtly hostile to a procedure that’s widely used and supported by 86% of Americans. It’s like running for office after saying dogs are nothing but worm-defiled, sofa-shtupping, disease vectors—but you can keep yours for the time being.
But Shananan isn’t against women having babies. In fact, she presumably wants to keep American women fertile for so long they can get their prenatal checkups covered by Medicare.
At the same time, she has also been a vocal proponent of and financial backer for unconventional research into the possibility of helping women having children into their 50s and exploring no-cost interventions to help women conceive, such as exposure to sunlight.
“I’m not sure that there has been a really thorough mitochondrial respiration study on the effects of two hours of morning sunlight on reproductive health. I would love to fund something like that,” Shanahan said to a 2023 panel with the National Academy of Medicine, a group to which she said she had previously donated $100 million. The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine said Bia-Echo’s [Shanahan’s foundation] donation amounted to $150,000.
Yay, science!
Forget about proven methods that have already helped hundreds of thousands of couples conceive. We should see if tanning works. All those Tucker Carlson fans must be tired of their testicle lamps by now, right? And the weird light they throw off makes it really hard to read “The Turner Diaries” anyway, so they’re basically worthless now. So all those childless couples should just check eBay. Who knows? They might get lucky.
Of course, after being contacted by POLITICO, the RFK Jr.-Shanahan campaign was quick to do damage control. It issued a statement from Shanahan in which she attempted to burnish her pro-elderly-parent bona fides.
“I’ve spent the past five years funding science to understand the environmental factors that impact women’s reproductive health because these have gone largely ignored,” she said. “IVF is a very expensive for-profit business, and many of these clinics are owned by private equity firms that are not invested in the underlying health of women. What I care about is informed consent, and not letting corporations take advantage of us.”
Okay. Sure. Nice statement, Nicole. But you also said this during an interview with the Australian Financial Review:
“It became abundantly clear that we just don’t have enough science for the things that we are telling and selling women. … It’s one of the biggest lies that’s being told about women’s health today.”
And this, in a personal essay in People magazine:
“I believe IVF is sold irresponsibly, and in my own experience with natural childbirth has led me to understand that the fertility industry is deeply flawed.”
And this, during an interview with the Marin Independent News:
“Personally, I find it crazy that my reproductive organs are considered geriatric long before any other organ even begins to show the slightest decline. I find it even crazier that we have conceded to this narrative for half of the human species.”
And this, during a webinar on reproductive longevity:
“I try to imagine where we would be as a field if all of the money that has been invested in IVF, and all of the money that’s been invested into marketing IVF, and all of the government money that has been invested in subsidizing IVF, if just 10 percent of that went into reproductive longevity research and fundamental research, where we would be today.”
It’s all well and good to want to help women conceive well into their 50s, if that’s what they’re into. But why should that come at the expense of couples who want to use IVF to start—or expand—their families at any age?
Given the barmy nonsense RFK Jr. spews on the regular, it’s hardly a good sign that his running mate appears to be prioritizing sunlight over scientifically proven methods to conceive. But it does help frame the upcoming election as a choice between those who support scientific methods and consensus (i.e., Joe Biden and Kamala Harris) and those who’d prefer science bend to their own idiosyncrasies and preconceptions (Kennedy, Shanahan, Trump, and a sycophant running mate to be named later).
Meanwhile, considering that Democrat Marilyn Lands was able to win a GOP-held district in Alabama—of all places, and by 25 points no less—with a full-throated pro-choice, pro-IVF message, it’s clear that voters are starting to grow weary of the ongoing medieval shenanigans from the right and the bottom-right, or whatever the RFK Jr.-Shanahan ticket calls itself.
Kennedy may have a Democratic name, but in far too many ways he appears to have a MAGA brain. And it looks like his running mate is hardly poised to help him refurbish his reputation.
That’s undoubtedly good news for a nation that’s suffered through more virulent nonsense than it should have ever been forced to endure.
Check out Aldous J. Pennyfarthing’s four-volume Trump-trashing compendium, including the finale, Goodbye, Asshat: 101 Farewell Letters to Donald Trump, at this link.