The promotion of patients’ health and safety is the top concern for Oregon nurses, who deliver care in accordance with a code of ethics. Consequently, we must vote against Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s nomination as the next secretary of Health and Human Services. It has been widely known that Kennedy sexually abused his 23-year-old nanny, in addition to his contentious positions that would endanger public health, such as opposing immunizations, calling for funding cuts to the National Institutes of Health, and trying to eliminate fluoride from water. When questioned about his behavior, Kennedy responded, “I have a lot of skeletons in my closet. I was not a church boy.”
A public health emergency is sexual assault.Sexual assault occurs in the United States every 98 seconds. According to the Women’s Foundation of Oregon’s Count Her In study, the state’s rates of rape and sexual assault against women and girls are significantly higher than the national average. However, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., a man accused of attacking a young lady, is the nominee to head the government agency in charge of dealing with domestic abuse, including rape and assault. Kennedy would be in charge of the Administration for Children and Families’ Office of Family Violence Prevention and Services if confirmed. Considering someone who has been accused of assaulting a young woman for a senior position in public health is reckless and hypocritical. In addition to betraying survivors of sexual assault, confirming Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as secretary of Health and Human Services will continue the normalization of violence against women. This is not acceptable. We need to demand better.
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