Where do babies come from? Robert F Kennedy Jr doesn't seem to know | Arwa Mahdawi

"Robert F Kennedy Jr is the father of six children. He's also the US health secretary. Two facts that might lead a reasonable person to assume he possesses a basic understanding of how foetuses develop. In a shocking development, however, it seems that Kennedy an anti-vaxxer who says his brain was partly eaten by a parasitic worm may not know what he's talking about."

"During a cabinet meeting last Thursday, Kennedy reasserted unproven claims that taking the common painkiller acetaminophen, also known as Tylenol or paracetamol, while pregnant causes autism. Doubters of this theory, he said, were motivated by Trump derangement syndrome. To underscore his point, he referenced a TikTok video he'd seen of a pregnant woman gobbling Tylenol with her baby in her placenta. Foetuses, of course, develop in the uterus, not the placenta."

"In 2019, for example, 25 Republicans all white men voted for a near-total ban on abortion in Alabama. During the debate, Clyde Chambliss, one of the bill's sponsors in the Senate, noted that while he didn't have medical training, from what I've read, what I've been told, there's some period of time before you can know that a woman is pregnant It takes some time for all those chromosomes and all that."

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. reasserted unproven claims that taking acetaminophen during pregnancy causes autism and referenced a TikTok video showing a pregnant woman consuming Tylenol with her baby allegedly in her placenta. A foetus develops in the uterus, not the placenta. Some politicians lack basic knowledge of female reproductive biology while legislating on related issues. In 2019, 25 Republican men supported a near-total Alabama abortion ban; sponsor Clyde Chambliss inaccurately described chromosomes and pregnancy detection. Ohio Republican John Becker backed an impossible reimplantation procedure for ectopic pregnancies and admitted he had not researched the issue. Other lawmakers have displayed similar medical misunderstandings.

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