Will you sign the petition to demand RFK Jr. declare a measles emergency?
Dear MoveOn member,
Back to school is on the horizon, and the United States is in the midst of the worst measles outbreak in more than a decade.1
Yet the response from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has been dangerously inadequate—and too many families are in the dark about how to best protect their children.
Already, more than 1,200 cases have been reported across the country this year, with the majority concentrated in Texas, where alarmingly low childhood vaccination rates have allowed the disease to spread rapidly.2
HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has the sole authority to mobilize the full force of the federal government to get this outbreak under control, but he has yet to declare measles a public health emergency.3 Add your name to the petition to demand that RFK Jr. declare a measles emergency now.
Despite what skeptics like to claim, measles is a highly contagious illness that can cause complications like pneumonia, brain damage, and even death.4
However, it’s entirely preventable with a safe, effective, decades-old vaccine.
And while public health officials and pediatricians are calling for urgent federal action to contain the outbreak, especially in states where undervaccinated communities are at highest risk, RFK Jr. is not moving with urgency.
But the longer this outbreak continues, the more lives are at risk, especially infants, immunocompromised people, and those without access to basic care. Will you add your name?
Declaring a public health emergency would unlock critical resources, allow the CDC to expand its support to affected states, and send a clear message that the federal government is finally taking this crisis seriously.5 It’s crucial that we cut through the noise of misinformation and come together to put pressure on the federal government to do everything in their power to stop this epidemic from putting more children in danger.
Enough is enough. It’s time for the federal government to move with urgency to get this outbreak under control and prevent more suffering from a disease we have the tools to stop.
Tell RFK Jr.: Declare a public health emergency and take real action to stop the measles outbreak.
Thanks for all you do.
––Toni, Alexis, David, Aliya, and the rest of the team
Sources:
1. "U.S. measles cases hit highest level in 33 years, CDC reports," NPR, July 9, 2025
https://www.npr.org/sections/shots-health-news/2025/07/09/nx-s1-5461155/measles-outbreak-cdc-vaccination-health/
2. "Measles exploded in Texas after stagnant vaccine funding. New cuts threaten the same across the US” Associated Press, April 13, 2025
https://apnews.com/article/measles-texas-vaccines-funding-cuts-5785985d6b74024b0502f6a2fc1576e2
3. "Schumer Urges Kennedy to Declare Public Health Emergency Over Measles," the New York Times, June 16, 2025
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/11/us/politics/measles-public-health-emergency-rfk-jr.html
4."Measles," World Health Organization, November 14, 2024
https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/measles
5. "Schumer Urges Kennedy to Declare Public Health Emergency Over Measles," the New York Times, June 16, 2025
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/11/us/politics/measles-public-health-emergency-rfk-jr.html
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