MAHA movement flexing political muscle in statehouses nationwide

You’re reading The MAHA Diagnosis, a STAT series that examines the major elements of the Make America Healthy Again movement led by Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

From cancer warning labels to soda taxes, progressive states like California and New York have long led the way on legislation meant to improve public health. Now the Make America Healthy Again movement is prompting lawmakers in more conservative states, like Texas, Florida, Oklahoma, and Utah, to join blue ones in introducing bills that aim to tackle chronic disease and other health issues. 

Some of the new measures — like West Virginia’s landmark bill, signed into law Monday, banning most artificial dyes and two preservatives from sale in the state starting in 2028 — highlight how concern over the safety of the U.S. food supply is an increasingly nonpartisan issue. Other bills are more specific to the Make America Healthy Again movement, such as efforts to ban fluoride from drinking water, restrict the use of mRNA, and make ivermectin, an antiparasitic drug that has been falsely claimed to treat cancer and Covid-19, available over the counter.