Vaccines are an important part of ensuring we have a healthy and productive society. Imagine how many days of school and work Mainers would miss if we weren’t vaccinated for diseases like smallpox, measles and whooping cough, let alone going back to the days of Mainers being in iron lungs because of polio. That isn’t just ancient history. I am old enough to remember people in my hometown who needed an iron lung to survive; there is still at least one person in America who uses one.

Mainers understand vaccinations are vitally important. That’s why Mainers voted almost 3-1 (72.5% to 27.5%) in 2020 to ensure that children must be vaccinated to attend public school. This is why it is so important that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. not be confirmed to head up the Department of Health and Human Services.

We know the kind of damage that will be done and the lives that will be lost if Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is put in charge of our health care system because we’ve seen it in action. Kennedy has a well-documented history of opposing lifesaving vaccines, and he has pledged to stop funding research for treatments and cures for deadly diseases. Yet Kennedy is nominated to run the Department of Health and Human Services — and Sen. Collins has said it’s premature to take a position on his nomination.

If he is approved by the Senate,  the head of HHS, the agency whose mission is to “improve the health, safety and well-being of America,” would be a man so opposed to facts and science. This would leave our nation vulnerable to a deadly resurgence of childhood illnesses like polio and measles.

We deserve better than this. RFK Jr. will threaten the lives of Mainers. Not only does Kennedy oppose lifesaving vaccines, but he has said that he “does not believe that infectious disease is an enormous threat to human health” and pledged to stop funding research for treatments and cures.

But why is this so important to Maine? After all, Maine has one of the highest COVID-19 vaccination rates in the country at 83%. Kennedy could make it harder to get vaccines, however, and even if we keep vaccinating at current rates, infectious diseases don’t abide by state or country boundaries. They would threaten people in Maine who can’t be vaccinated because of compromised immune systems.

Kennedy’s anti-vaccination conspiracy theories have had deadly consequences. Following his visit to Samoa in 2019, where Kennedy met with the prime minister and other high-profile figures, a devastating measles outbreak killed 83 people, primarily infants and children. The widespread fear and distrust of vaccines was perpetuated by Kennedy’s misinformation and harsh rhetoric opposing the efforts attempting to contain the outbreak. Hawaii Gov. and ER doctor Josh Green, who was dispatched to Samoa during the outbreak, said it “was caused in large part by RFK Jr.” and called him “a terrible pick for HHS secretary.”

The devastating events that followed his visit to Samoa could be a preview of what’s to come with Kennedy at the reins of our nation’s public health care system. HHS is responsible for approving medicines, overseeing vaccines, funding lifesaving research and coordinating responses — everything from pandemics to natural disasters. If RFK Jr. is put in charge of America’s health care system, the results could be horrific.

The American people deserve a leader at HHS who believes in science, who believes in vaccines, and who is committed to lowering costs and protecting health care coverage. Kennedy will not trust the science and the experts, but he will instead continue his campaign of pushing dangerous misinformation. The effects of Kennedy leading HHS would threaten every single household in Maine and across the nation.

It is the duty of our federal senators to approve only qualified people to serve in the president’s Cabinet. I am pleading with Sens. King and Collins to take that responsibility seriously and vote “No” on the confirmation of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as head of the Department of Health and Human Services.