Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedyâs much-touted report on autism, set to drop this month, threatens to be not a new dawn, but an ugly throwback.
As widely reported, if RFK asserts a connection between autism and the use of acetaminophen during pregnancy, he would be employing a well-known tactic: Identify a prevalent maternal habit, allude to severe outcomes, and let guilt take hold.
For decades, autism has been used to indict mothers.
In the 1950s, the infamous ârefrigerator motherâ theory claimed children developed autism because their moms were too cold and unfeeling.
The damage was incalculable.
Families were torn apart as mothers raising children with real struggles were told they themselves were at fault.
Worse, the idea dead-ended autism research for years.
Now, Kennedy aims to pull us back once more, this time pointing fingers not at emotional detachment but at Tylenol, a widely used over-the-counter drug that countless mothers have taken for relief from headaches, fevers, or pregnancy-related discomforts at night.
This narrative poses two significant risks: It promotes flawed science and adds more layers of guilt and worry to mothers already overwhelmed by the demands of modern parenting.
To be sure, some studies have raised questions about acetaminophen use in pregnancy.
A 2021 meta-analysis conducted by researchers at Harvard’s School of Public Health indicated a potential link between the medication and both autism and ADHD.
But an association is not the same as causation.
Large-scale studies have not found reliable evidence that acetaminophen causes autism, and medical experts consider it safe when used appropriately.
The evidence against acetaminophen is weak and riddled with confounding factors.
Itâs nowhere near enough to outweigh decades of real-world safety data.
The more robust scientific conclusion is not that pregnant women should completely steer clear of Tylenol, but rather that they should use it prudently, following their doctor’s guidance.
Itâs worth underlining: Acetaminophen is the only widely recommended pain reliever considered safe in pregnancy.
Scaring women away from it on shaky evidence isnât responsible, itâs cruel.
But cruelty to mothers has a long history in the autism debate.
When science canât provide answers, culture fills the void with blame.
We see it again and again.
Condemn cold mothers. Mothers who worked. Mothers who vaccinated.
And now, mothers who dared take an over-the-counter medication while pregnant.
Meanwhile, autism is a complicated condition.
No one element drives an autism diagnosis, and children are diagnosed today based on criteria that didnât exist in the past.
Aspergerâs syndrome is now within the autism spectrum, increasing the number of diagnoses considerably.
So the reported rise in autism may not represent increased cases, but a rise in labels, recognition and support.
Some research flags other risk factors like parental age, especially the fatherâs age at the time of conception.
Additionally, maternal fevers during early pregnancy have been proposed as another possible contributing factor, which might explain the noted association with acetaminophen.
And yet the burden of blame keeps circling back to womenâs choices.
Thatâs not an accident.
Itâs easier to wag our fingers at mothers than to wrestle with the complexity of genetics, neurology or environmental exposures.
Itâs more satisfying to say âyou did thisâ than to admit âwe donât fully understand.â
But look around. That burden is breaking women.
A new NBC News survey found that the majority of Gen Z women, at both ends of the political spectrum, say they donât want children.
The reasons are clear: The pressure is too high, the risks too great, the blame too relentless.
Now try telling those same young women that if they get pregnant, even Americaâs most common pain medication could doom their baby.
Does anyone believe this kind of rhetoric will encourage family life?
Or is it more likely to fuel the hesitation and fear already keeping a generation away from motherhood?
Autism is not a motherâs fault. It never was.
The tragedy is that millions of women have been told otherwise, and millions more are still being put through the same gauntlet of guilt.
RFKâs crusade is only the latest iteration. He is not exposing a scandal. He is reviving a myth that should have died long ago.
Autism is real, and we need research founded on humility, rigor and compassion.
Families need therapies, schools and social supports.
Mothers need relief, not suspicion.
Kennedyâs report doesnât appear poised to advance that work. It threatens to revive a ghost we should have exorcised decades ago.
We donât need another cycle of mother-blaming theories dressed up as science.
We need real answers, real help â and a culture willing to stop scapegoating women every time it encounters a medical mystery.
Bethany Mandel writes and podcasts at The Mom Wars.
