Fifteen Democratic governors have formed a new public health alliance in defiance of Health and Human Services Department Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s policies.
According to a report from The Wall Street Journal, the Governors Public Health Alliance aims to “create an alternative public-health universe outside the federal government.”
“In light of the assaults on science and medicine coming out of Washington, governors have to step up and lead,” New York Governor Kathy Hochul told the outlet. “We really have no choice.”
“We have to show that we will continue supporting science, supporting medical research, supporting our institutions, supporting access to vaccinations, and we believe in science,” she added.
Colorado Governor Jared Polis claimed the alliance is “really just about health.”
The health alliance has also been reported as the “West Coast Health Alliance,” which aimed to protect residents with “science, not politics.”
“President Trump’s mass firing of CDC doctors and scientists — and his blatant politicization of the agency — is a direct assault on the health and safety of the American people,” California Governor Gavin Newsom, Oregon Governor Tina Kotek, and Washington Governor Bob Ferguson, said in a joint statement in September. “The CDC has become a political tool that increasingly peddles ideology instead of science, ideology that will lead to severe health consequences. California, Oregon, and Washington will not allow the people of our states to be put at risk.”
According to the governors, the alliance will “help safeguard scientific expertise by ensuring that public health policies in California, Oregon, and Washington are informed by trusted scientists, clinicians, and other public health leaders,” a news release from Newsom’s office explained at the time. The Democratic leaders will coordinate health guidelines by “aligning immunization recommendations informed by respected national medical organizations.”
