In two days of hearings on the state’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the House Select Committee on Homeland Security heard hours of testimony from doctors with fringe views on the COVID-19 virus. They included the state’s chief medical doctor, Surgeon General Ralph Abraham, who himself amplified misinformation. Abraham is a general practitioner who is also a veterinarian. (Julie O’Donoghue/LAI)
Dozens of anti-vaccine bills have died in the Louisiana Legislature since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, but ultra-conservative lawmakers are gearing up for another fight.
In the process, truth has become a major casualty.
In two days of hearings last week on the state’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the House Select Committee on Homeland Security heard hours of testimony from doctors with fringe views on the COVID-19 virus. They included the state’s chief medical doctor, Surgeon General Ralph Abraham, who himself amplified misinformation. Abraham is a general practitioner who is also a veterinarian.
“It’s been my observation that nearly every intervention attempted by government has been ineffective, counterproductive and antithetical to the core principles of a free society,” Abraham said last Thursday, citing mask use and vaccines as examples of ineffective measures.
Abraham’s deputy surgeon general, ophthalmologist Dr. Wyche Coleman III, went a step further, touting the debunked theory that childhood vaccinations cause autism.
“You could probably fill Tiger Stadium with moms who have kids that were normal one day, got a vaccine and were then autistic after,” Coleman told lawmakers.
Experts agree the amplification and legitimization of COVID-19 misinformation by state officials can have a detrimental impact on public health.
When asked if he was concerned the negative talk on vaccines could discourage people from getting vaccinated, committee chair Rep. Jay Gallé, R-Covington, replied, “So what if it does?”
Fact-check: Anti-vax proponents dominate legislative hearing on COVID response
Louisiana is one of the least vaccinated states in the nation, with just 55% of eligible residents fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control cited by the New York Times. Most Louisiana residents also oppose COVID vaccine mandates, polling from LSU’s Reilly Center for Media and Public Affairs found.
These two statistics point to a population that has a mistrust of the COVID vaccine.
Jennifer Herricks, a public health communicator with a Ph.D. in microbiology, works with the Louisiana Families for Vaccines to combat misinformation.
“Using taxpayer dollars to legitimize this harmful rhetoric when our vaccination rates are already dangerously low is irresponsible and not in the best interest of the people of Louisian,” Herricks said. “It was extremely disappointing to see these false narratives about vaccines promoted by LDH leadership.”
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Throughout the hearings, multiple lawmakers announced their intentions to “bring back” COVID- and vaccine-related bills that have failed in previous years.
Dozens of bills from ultra-conservative lawmakers related to the pandemic and vaccines have been filed in the past four regular sessions. Some sought to expand already broad vaccine exemptions at Louisiana schools, while others aimed to create civil liability for those who require vaccinations.
But just a few measures, only the most moderate ones, got all the way through the Legislature, where Republicans who hold a super majority in both chambers have the final say.
Even during this year’s regular session, when Republicans enjoyed the support of COVID-19 skeptic and fellow conservative Gov. Jeff Landry, just one of 10 bills related to vaccines or alternative COVID-19 treatments passed.
Conservatives scored health care wins on other topics in recent sessions, such as Louisiana’s gender affirming care ban for transgender youth and a first-of-its-kind law classifying pregnancy care medicine as controlled dangerous substances. But wide support among Republican lawmakers never materialized for fringe proposals related to the pandemic or vaccinations.
Despite the successive losses, COVID and vaccine proposals spawn hours of legislative hearings, giving those with marginal views an opportunity to put misinformation on the record.
One thing most on both sides of the issue can agree on is that public health officials and the government share blame for mixed messages in the initial phases of the pandemic and poor communication when updating mitigation recommendations. At last Friday’s hearing, several commenters cited the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s initial recommendation against masking, which they later reversed.
From there, things spiraled. A uniquely American distrust for government was fertile ground for misinformation to take root.
Garden variety rumors, shared by a friend or family member on social media, spread rapidly and gradually became mistakenly accepted as truth. In the absence of facts, many in the public became scared and questioned all health advice. Then came the disinformers, bad-faith actors who public health experts say knowingly spread falsehoods to push an agenda or seek some form of material gain.
A combination of the simply misinformed and deliberate disinformers have been responsible for misinformation at the State Capitol in recent years.
As interest from families wanes, pediatricians scale back on COVID shots
Most notable among the disinformers is Robert F. Kennedy Jr., an anti-vaccine activist who came to Baton Rouge to lobby against requiring the COVID vaccine for K-12 students in 2021.
It would be impossible, and irresponsible, to list every instance of misinformation from legislative hearings, past and present, in this analysis.
Most of last week’s disreputable claims were easily proven false. Most were also left unchecked in the hearing room, leaving public health experts and pro-vaccine activists to play clean-up on social media.
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