Health-focused conservatives who rallied behind President Trump now say they've been burned by his administration after the Supreme Court handed Bayer a major win over its Roundup weed killer. In a 7–2 decision Thursday, the court ruled that federal regulators' conclusion that Roundup's active ingredient, glyphosate, is unlikely to cause cancer shields Bayer from state lawsuits demanding cancer warning labels—effectively shutting down thousands of potential cases like that of Missouri plaintiff John Durnell, who had earlier won a $1.25 million verdict. Like many other plaintiffs, including some represented by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. before he joined the administration, Durnell said Roundup caused his non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
Leaders of the "Make America Healthy Again" movement, including influential "MAHA moms," blasted the ruling and the Trump administration's support for the company, NBC News reports. "The decision is sickening and would have never happened had the administration not given Bayer Monsanto a favor," wrote Vani Hari, known as "Food Babe," while activist "Glyphosate Girl" Kelly Ryerson accused the administration of selling out public health to corporate interests. "It is unforgivable. We will make sure all voters know exactly how this domestic chemical attack happened," she said.
- Ryerson tells MS Now that she was "floored that this administration of all administrations" would side with the company. She says it could cost the GOP votes in November. "If we lose our ability to sue pesticide manufacturers, I wouldn't say people are going to go and vote for Democrats," she says. "They're not going to vote; they're going to be done with voting."
The decision deepens MAHA's split with Trump over pesticides and other regulations, even as researchers remain divided: the EPA's 2020 review said glyphosate is unlikely to be carcinogenic, but the World Health Organization-linked International Agency for Research on Cancer and dozens of scientists point to evidence of a link to non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Researchers say the IARC relied on peer-reviewed research, while the EPA used unpublished, industry-funded studies, NBC reports. MAHA activists are now pressing Congress, with Republican Rep. Anna Paulina Luna vowing legislation to strip liability protections from pesticide makers.
- Bayer, meanwhile, celebrated the ruling, USA Today reports. "The decision brings overdue justice on an issue that should have been clarified much earlier," CEO Bill Anderson said in a statement. "It's time to put it behind us."
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