By Ann Suellentrop, MSRN
After attending the 11/2-5 annual meeting of the American Public Health Association in Washington, DC, I and about 1,000 health care workers and supporters held a 2-hour “Rally for America’s Health” on the National Mall. We marched to the Department of Health and Human Services and piled 250 boxes of petitions in front of the building to call for the firing of HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. We chanted, “Public health is a human right!” We called out, “What do we want? Public health!” And then, “When do we want it? NOW!”
Besides asking for Kennedy to be ousted, our petitions demanded, “Reverse the harmful changes Kennedy has made to America’s critical public health institutions,” including:
–Restoring accountability and expertise in leadership,
–Adhering to the best available science in policy decisions,
–Restoration of federal public health data collection,
–Resumption of funding for science and health, and
–An end to political litmus tests for science.
The rally speakers included Sen. Edward Markey, D-Massachusetts, whose wife is a long-time public health official. At the Department of Health and Human Services, we waved at the many HHS workers who looked out from windows on every floor of the tall building.
We made our public health plea through the petitions and chants as well as through our clothes and posters. Many of us health professionals wore our scrubs or our white coats, dressing as care-givers. One woman’s T-shirt said, “Vaccines cause adults.” A grandma, daughter, and grandchild each wore a T-shirt saying, “Girls just wanna have funding for science.” Creative!
A poster addressed to RFK Jr. read, “Hey, JUNIOR! Never learned the scientific method??? We can help!” One sign said:
Public health is NOT
Starving people
Taking health care away
Defunding research and science
Making "evidence" to fit the policy
And it is not a dictatorship
The rally was the perfect cap for the intense four-day national conference of the American Public Health Association.
–Ann Suellentrop is vice chair of PeaceWorks Kansas City, as well as a Board member of Physicians for Social Responsibility and a past president of the Alliance for Nuclear Accountability. © 2025, Ann Suellentrop, Creative Commons Attribution Share-Alike 4.0 International License.
In preparation for the rally in DC, Ann Suellentrop, left, helps to hold the PSR banner. Holding up the other end of the banner is an unidentified nurse, and Brian Campbell, PhD, executive director of PSR, supports the middle of the banner.–Photo courtesy of Ann Suellentrop
