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Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Talks Vaccines in Ohio Visit

Kennedy presenting before a large room
JO INGLES
/
STATEHOUSE NEWS BUREAU
Kennedy has become notable for his views against vaccination.

Prominent attorney Robert Kennedy Jr. says vaccines are making children sick. The son of former U.S. Attorney General Bobby Kennedy and nephew of former President John F. Kennedy spoke at the Ohio Statehouse in favor of a bill that would prohibit employers from mandating employees get vaccines. 

Kennedy has become a celebrity of sorts among people who oppose vaccinations.

“We have traded mild childhood infectious diseases with very very low mortalities to the American public for a large number of vaccine induced chronic diseases," Kennedy said.

Kennedy’s views on vaccines are outside the mainstream of most public health organizations. The bill he is supporting has seven sponsors, most conservative Republicans. It would allow workers to opt out of flu shots or other vaccines and would prevent employers from requiring those shots as a condition for employment.

Jo Ingles is a professional journalist who covers politics and Ohio government for the Ohio Public Radio and Television for the Ohio Public Radio and Television Statehouse News Bureau. She reports on issues of importance to Ohioans including education, legislation, politics, and life and death issues such as capital punishment. Jo started her career in Louisville, Kentucky in the mid 80’s when she helped produce a televised presidential debate for ABC News, worked for a creative services company and served as a general assignment report for a commercial radio station. In 1989, she returned back to her native Ohio to work at the WOSU Stations in Columbus where she began a long resume in public radio.