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Autism and RFK Jr.’s War on Pregnant People

It Could Happen Here

Wed Sep 24 2025

Summary

It Could Happen Here — Autism and RFK Jr.’s War on Pregnant People

Cool Zone Media / iHeartPodcasts | Aired: September 24, 2025
Host: Mia Wong
Guest: Crystal (unionized abortion care worker, aka Clozilla)

Episode Overview

This episode dives into the Trump administration and RFK Jr.’s recent campaign asserting a debunked and dangerous link between Tylenol (acetaminophen) use during pregnancy and autism (and ADHD) in children. Host Mia Wong and abortion care worker Crystal dissect the medical misinformation behind this narrative, connect it to broader eugenics policies and control over pregnant people’s bodies, and discuss the real-world dangers such rhetoric creates for public health and marginalized groups.

Key Discussion Points

1. The Newest Anti-Autism Conspiracy (03:05–05:16)

Mia introduces “Anti-Autism Week”: Jokingly frames the episode as another round of attacks on marginalized identities:

“...your host wakes up every morning and rolls a D6 to determine whether the government wants to exterminate her for being trans, autistic or Chinese.” (03:05, Mia Wong)
RFK Jr. and Trump claim Tylenol causes autism and ADHD:
- Administration promised to "find the cause of autism by the end of the summer."
- They blame Tylenol taken during pregnancy, which is not backed by science.
Lack of media coverage on ADHD: Crystal points out the administration also connects Tylenol to ADHD, which is largely going unreported.

“They are also claiming that taking Tylenol if you're pregnant causes ADHD, a thing which you think would be noteworthy to point out, but has just not.” (04:30, Crystal)

2. Deep Roots in Anti-Vaxx Grifting and Eugenics (05:16–11:26)

Return of vaccine misinformation:
- Trump, RFK Jr., and allies repeat outdated anti-vaccine tropes, including long-debunked claims about mercury/aluminum in vaccines and the Wakefield MMR scare.
Andrew Wakefield’s legacy:
- Recaps how Wakefield started the modern anti-vax movement with fraudulent research.
Absurd pseudo-scientific claims:
- Trump apparently claimed, “Cuba doesn't have Tylenol, so they don't have autism,” and that Amish communities have lower rates due to avoiding medications.
RFK Jr. appropriates “Believe all women”:

“President Trump believes that we should be listening to these mothers instead of gaslighting and marginalizing them...” (Quote read by Mia Wong, 07:29)
- Crystal notes the hypocrisy, as RFK Jr. uses #MeToo language to push anti-vax claims, despite being accused of sexual assault.
  
  “RFK Jr noted repeatedly accused of sexual assault... is doing believe all women but about vaccines causing autism.” (08:14, Crystal)
Promotion of “natural” suffering as eugenics:
- FDA commissioner argues against treating children’s fevers, harkening back to survival-of-the-fittest and eugenic thinking.
  
  “If the child is strong, then they'll go through it naturally and they'll become stronger. And it's like, no, that's eugenics.” (09:48, Crystal)
Core argument: The policy’s true purpose is to eliminate or reduce autistic births—a eugenics goal—while actively harming those in need of medical care.

3. Tylenol in Pregnancy: Medical Reality vs. Political Rhetoric (16:49–22:24)

Why Tylenol is targeted:
- It’s nearly the only pain/fever medication considered safe during pregnancy; attacking it is an attack on pregnant people’s right to comfortable, safe care.
- Other pain meds (NSAIDs, opioids) are either risky or dangerous in pregnancy.
False medical authority:
- FDA commissioner brags about refusing Tylenol for his pregnant wife, suggesting doctors wrongly “push” it, while touting unproven alternatives (e.g., “prescription Lecoverin”).
  
  “They pushed her to take acetaminophen for a low grade fever. She said no. And then they looked at me and I said, absolutely no.” (19:26, Crystal reading quote)
Medical consensus ignored:
- Professional organizations (Physicians for Reproductive Health, ACOG) affirm Tylenol’s safety in pregnancy.
  
  “There’s decades of studies of Tylenol being safe to take during pregnancy. There’s ACOG... saying like, hey, Tylenol is safe during pregnancy.” (21:22, Mia Wong)

4. Medical Disinformation, Surveillance & Broader Control (23:21–25:58)

Controlling pregnant bodies:
- Disinformation about Tylenol forms part of a wider agenda: abortion bans, criminalizing miscarriage, and regulating every aspect of pregnancy.
- Any substance could be arbitrarily targeted, setting dangerous precedent.
Link to abortion pill attacks:
- Government’s false claims about Tylenol foreshadow similar attacks on abortion medications (e.g., mifepristone), undermining reproductive autonomy.
Extending to other fields:
- The same strategies are used to limit transgender healthcare and vaccine access.
“We let it happen with abortion, and then now, all of a sudden, now we can't take Tylenol during pregnancy because it causes autism.” (26:39, Mia Wong)

5. The Landscape of State Violence & Collapse of Public Health (31:40–39:09)

Wider context: deliberate erosion of healthcare systems:
- Black maternal mortality, ob/gyn “deserts,” infant mortality, hospital closures—all worsening as resources shift away from real crises into moral panics about autism.
Stigmatization as control:
- Focuses on how the administration targets vulnerable groups (autistic people, trans people, pregnant people) as a means to inflict suffering, distract from systemic collapse, and profit from anti-vax/anti-medical grifting.
Hope in public resistance:
- Crystal notes this authoritarian platform is deeply unpopular and ultimately unenforceable if mass non-compliance and dissent persist.
  
  “Things that they do can be opposed. And when people oppose them en masse, they lose… the violence of the state only functions insofar as people allow it to function.” (31:40, Crystal)

6. Closing Thoughts & Call to Action (39:15–End)

Repeat the medical truth:

“I just want to say again that it's safe to take Tylenol during pregnancy and it doesn't cause autism.” (39:15, Mia Wong)
Resources encouraged:
- ACOG, Physicians for Reproductive Health (PRH), and consulting your doctor.
Advocacy for sharing correct information:
- Emphasized the importance of combating misinformation with reliable medical sources.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

On the real motivation:

“The thing that they're trying to do is get rid of autistic people… it's absolutely hideous.” (10:20, Crystal)
On the fraudulent science linking Tylenol to autism:

“Autism predates Tylenol… Tylenol came to be in like the 1950s and, you know, autism existed before that.” (17:02, Mia Wong)
On the state’s priorities:

“They definitely care more about there being less autistic children than… addressing infant mortality.” (11:26, Mia Wong)
On medical autonomy:

“It's cool to ask your doctor stuff, like, just ask them questions… That's what they are there for.” (39:38, Mia Wong & 39:50, Crystal)
On living under intersectional threat:

“[Describes the show’s premise:] … to determine whether the government wants to exterminate her for being trans, autistic or Chinese.” (03:05, Mia Wong)

Important Timestamps

03:05 — Episode opens; “Autism Week” description and introduction of guest Crystal.
04:30 — Media’s failure to report Tylenol/ADHD claims.
05:16–08:08 — Discussion of Trump/RFK Jr. positions, anti-vax movement roots.
09:31 — Debunking the “fevers are good” argument by FDA Commissioner.
10:20–12:17 — Eugenics as core ideology behind these policies.
16:49 — Deep dive: why Tylenol is vital in pregnancy.
19:26 — FDA Commissioner’s personal anecdote & push for unproven alternatives.
21:22 — Medical community’s response & consensus.
23:21 — Surveillance & criminalization of pregnancy.
25:31 — Parallel to abortion medication disinformation.
31:40 — Crystal’s reflections on state violence, resistance and hope.
34:45 — The link between policy, hospital closures, worsening health outcomes.
36:38 — Public education attacks & lack of support for autistic and trans people.
39:15 — Closing: Tylenol is safe & doesn’t cause autism. Encouragement to check reliable medical resources.

Suggested Resources (from discussion)

ACOG (American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists): https://www.acog.org/
Physicians for Reproductive Health: https://prh.org/
Consult your OB/GYN or healthcare provider for personal medical decisions.

Tone & Language

The episode mixes gallows humor, exasperation, and solidarity with vulnerable listeners. Crystal and Mia combine academic rigor, lived experience as healthcare workers and marginalized people, and a refusal to sugarcoat the bleakness of rising authoritarian health policies. The language is direct, sometimes profane, and always conversational, including frequent reminders to question authority and trust medical professionals over conspiracy news cycles.

Summary Takeaway

This episode is a rigorous, impassioned dismantling of the right-wing’s turn toward eugenicist, anti-science policy surrounding autism, exemplified by attacks on Tylenol in pregnancy. The hosts provide medical facts, context for broader state violence against marginalized groups, and a call for resistance, mutual aid, and accurate information sharing.

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Transcript

Mia Wong (0:00)

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Crystal (1:04)

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Mia Wong (2:15)

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Crystal (2:33)

I just normally do straight stand up, but this is a bit different.

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Mia Wong (2:42)

Crystal (5:16)

Yeah, it's, it's just not being reported on. It's really baffling. So I want to, before we sort of really get into the. Wait, hold on. Why the fuck are they doing this? What is happening here? Because, and as Crystal's going to say, actually Tylenol is safe for people who are pregnant. It's fine. But I want to go over a bit of like, what's actually in this because it's a really, really weird. We're going to be getting more into the sort of like into the autism angle in another episode next week. But I want to talk a little bit about just like the actual stuff that was in this announcement where Trump is saying that a, you shouldn't give Tylenol to pregnant people and also saying like, you shouldn't give it to like, young children and is like, you know, he's like ranting about like mercury and aluminum in vaccines, which, like, this shit isn't real. Like, there hasn't even been anything that's even remotely related to mercury in vaccines for ages. It also never did anything. But this is all weird Andrew Wakefield special shit. He also has this thing where he's talking about, like, how you should separate the MMR vaccines, which is a thing that if you have seen the Hbomber guy video, you will know. The reason that that was an anti vax talking point was because Wakefield was selling separate vaccines. And so he was trying to convince parents that having all three of the vaccines at once would give their kids autism. But if you did it separately, it wouldn't through scientific things that don't make any sense, even according to his own incredibly made up bullshit. Wakefield, by the way, is the guy who sort of kicked off the modern anti vaccine movements by abusing a bunch of children and publishing an incredibly fake study and then getting it retracted and then getting his medical license retracted because it was incredibly fake and abused children. So Trump is sort of just repeating the stuff that he's like, vaguely remembers. There's a whole bunch of this sort of like stuff he vaguely remembers. Like he goes on a random rant about like, how Cuba doesn't have Tylenol, so they don't have autism and that Amish people. And this is the one that goes around a lot like, oh, people don't have autism because they don't take drugs. And it's like, oh my God. I also just, I want to read a quote from RFK Jr about this, which again, and I want to point this out, the actual point of this thing is announcing that the FDA is not going to recommend that you take acetaminophen or Tylenol if you're pregnant. I'm just going to read this and I'm going to ask if you can figure out what the link between this and Tylenol is. This is from RFK Jr. President Trump believes that we should be listening to these mothers instead of gaslighting and marginalizing them. Marginalizing them like prior administrations. Some of our friends like to say we should believe all women. Some of these same people have been silencing and demonizing these mothers for three decades because research on the potential link between autism and vaccines has been suppressed in the past.

Mia Wong (17:02)

Yeah, and I bet like there's definitely probably people out there who are like, why Tylenol? Why did they choose this? Like, where did this come from? Is it because Trump can't say acetaminophen? You know, a lot of people have been, you know, speculating and first off, I, I do want to say that autism predates Tylenol. Like, like Tylenol, like came to be in like the 1950s and you know, autism existed before that and has probably already always been around to some degree, which we don't know. I don't know. It's. It's a very complex and we're still, you know, it. There's been so much stigma around it for so long that it's difficult to talk about. But Tylenol is basically one of the only pain medications that pregnant people can take. And that's why it's Tylenol. I think that that is the way of looking at this where it's like, why did they single out this medication? And it's because it's the only pain medication that a pregnant person can take. Because as we know, there's other pain medications like the NSAIDs, like ibuprofen and naproxen. And then of course there's opioids, which is obviously not good during pregnancy, though, of course, talk to your doctor, because I'm not a doctor and you should always get this from doctors. Talk to your OB GYN. But NSAIDs are typically not recommended in the last three months of pregnancy because they can cause issues with amniotic fluid and baby's kidneys and things like that. So it is typically recommended that you avoid ibuprofen and other things like that. And you take Tylenol to reduce fevers, to reduce pain. Obviously there is a lot to be sick with when you're pregnant. There's a lot of sources of pain. You know, fever and headaches are definitely something that pregnant people experience. But pretty much like, because it is the only pain medication that pregnant people can take, then it's really easy to be like, oh, well, what are they taking? This is what they're taking. And then you can go from there. And I. This is very much coming from. It feels so weird saying this coming from like a biblical sense of like, Eve ate the apple. Eve is the original sinner, I think. I don't know, like, you know, Eve did the bad thing. So Eve needs to suffer during pregnancy. All women need to suffer during pregnancy. That is a very much like a very biblical take on this. And I think that is kind of why. Why Tylenol? Because it's what pregnant people are taking to reduce pain and to address fevers.

Mia Wong (36:38)

Yeah. The erosion of our public health. You know, this isn't like new this, decades of, you know, this coming into being where we are right now. But it's been really horrible to watch as a healthcare worker, as somebody who cares about just like everyone being able to get like evidence based care, have access to medical providers and then also the ability to do whatever kind of healthcare they need to be able to do on their own as well, to just have this solid medical information. And then also like there's the public education of it all too because already like there's this attack on public education which autistic children need a lot of support in order to thrive and schools are, you know, they could be equipped to do that. Where I've seen wonderful programs and wonderful education services that really set people up for success and this goes for like everyone obviously like any child is going to benefit from this. But it just, it makes everything so much worse. Like parents and families and just autistic people Just don't get enough support, period. Yeah, just like trans people as well. And then we're all just being thrown under the bus for the capitalist class and the elites so they can continue to, like, you know, hide their, their pedophilia rings and like, the whole, Just the fact that they're all like, what you said earlier about rfk. Yeah. These are all a bunch of child molesters telling us that we're not strong or brave enough to endure pain that we can easily treat with the medical technology that we have. And I feel like I normally, I feel like I used to not talk, talk like this. I used to not be, like, child molesters in the government. Like, I kind of feel like. But I'm like, this is literally where we are right now somehow. So here I am, like, you know, talking about Tylenol being safe for pregnant people, Tylenol not causing autism, and then talking about the fact that our government is run, run by a bunch of pedophiles. Not quite where I expected to be if you had talked to me like, eight years ago, maybe.