A group of Michigan residents, lawmakers, and healthcare professionals is urging Governor Gretchen Whitmer to join a multistate compact they said is aimed at protecting public health and ensuring continued vaccine access.
Their goal is for the states to provide a source of authority on important public health issues that’s different from the federal government, which they said is politicizing issues that should be based in science.
Defend Public Health, a group of volunteer Michigan citizens, created an online petition that people can sign to urge the governor and state health authorities to safeguard public health.
“This is a chance for there to be a concerted alternate voice that says we’re going to rely on science, we’re going to rely on folks who know what they’re doing, and not give in to pseudoscience,” said Rob Lyerla, a member of Michigan Defend Public Health and a professor in interdisciplinary health studies at Western Michigan University.
State Representative Carrie Rheingans (D-Ann Arbor) is also a supporter of the petition. She said it's a response to the Trump administration’s rollbacks of public health funding streams and changes to policy under Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s leadership at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
The administration has said it's "rooting out waste, fraud, and abuse" that could jeopardize important health programs, and that the policy changes are aimed at improving outcomes for patients and preventing chronic conditions.
But Rheingans said the changes were weakening the foundations of the country's health system. “I've been disappointed and frustrated to see the gutting and dismantling of the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,” she said.
Rheingans added that the lack of a national coordinated effort surrounding public health issues is troublesome. “I think it's really important for us as a state to be part of these multistate efforts to protect the health of our 10 million Michiganders,” she said.
Part of the effort involves urging Whitmer to join an organized group such as the Governors Public Health Alliance, a coalition helping states communicate to protect public health, Lyerla said.
“I want to be real clear that this isn't just about vaccines,” Lyerla said. “This is an assault on well-known institutions, the FDA, the NIH, and the CDC are all compromised in a way that is not only embarrassing, but rather shocking.”
Rheingans said she’s worried for the health of Michiganders. “One in four Michiganders get their healthcare covered by Medicaid. ... And we're going to see a lot of people lose coverage starting in 2026 and going into 2027," she said.
Lyerla said the actions of the federal government are eroding public trust in health institutions. “It's an insidious death by a thousand cuts kind of thing,” he said. “The government is supposed to help people. That’s its purpose.”
He said one example is the White House's move to rethink the nation's child vaccination schedule, which the Trump administration says is to "align U.S. core childhood vaccine recommendations with best practices from peer, developed countries," although experts from the American Academy of Pediatrics have said the shift is based in part on misinformation and lacks input from subject matter experts.
“Look, science and health is not political, right? It's not," Lyerla said. "Taking care of people and helping people should not be political. And somehow it's veered into that."
Trump Administration officials said they’re rooting out fraud and protecting patients’ health.
