It has become obvious that Donald Trump simply does not care about the health of most Americans. He is acting, or at least planning actions, that will hurt the health of many Americans.Perhaps the most obvious is his desire to repeal the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare). He says he will replace it with something better, but so far he has not revealed any plan at all -- and neither have his Republican cohorts in Congress.
That repeal will cost millions of Americans their health insurance -- possibly more than 20 million people. Those people will be left with no way to pay for needed hospitalization, or even the preventative care which could save their lives.
And it's not just the poor and working classes which will suffer. The repeal will cause disfunction in the insurance industry, causing premium costs to rise (which could make insurance too expensive for even some middle class families).
But it's not just Obamacare repeal that shows Trump doesn't care about the health of American families. He has appointed an anti-EPA person to head that agency, and now is planning two executive orders that will undo the environmental protections put in place by the Obama administration. This means we will have dirtier water and air (so corporate polluters can maximize their already record-breaking profits), and that will affect the health of all Americans.
And if that wasn't enough, Trump has now given a boost to those who oppose the vaccination of American children. He has said he believes that vaccinations cause autism -- even though there is absolutely NO scientific evidence to show that. The only study claiming that, and which is still quoted by the anti-vax forces has been thoroughly discredited for be unscientific and fraudulent.
Having the president support their cause will give credibility to the anti-vaxxers, and could create many more people who refuse to vaccinate their children. Public health officials say at least 90% to 95% of children must be vaccinated to prevent disease outbreaks (which could put lives in danger -- especially those of children too young to have been vaccinated).
Here in Texas, the anti-vax movement is fairly strong and growing stronger. In just a 12-year period (from 2003 to 2015), the number of unvaccinated children rose from 2,314 to 44,716 (more than 1900%). Some private schools have as many as 40% of their students unvaccinated, and the state as a whole is in danger of falling below the 90%-95% safety threshold.
But it's not just Texas. With the president giving credence to this pseudo-science, other states may soon find the anti-vax movement also reaching danger levels. With this nonsense, and his political actions, Donald Trump is showing that he doesn't care about the health of American citizens -- and by the end of his term, we will be living in a nation that's much more hazardous to the health of ordinary Americans.
(NOTE -- The photo above of Donald Trump is from celebrityclose-up.com.)
