After an intensified and misguided scrutiny of fluoride from members of the Trump administration, Republican lawmakers in several states are pushing for laws to ban or remove requirements to use the mineral in drinking water.
The Center for Disease Control (CDC) has sited using fluoride in drinking water as one of the greatest public health achievements of the 20thcentury. The practice, which dates back to the 1930s, has been proven to improve oral health, prevent cavities and prolong dental decay with minimal side effects with the right dosage.
Despite these findings, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has urged the CDC to stop recommending fluoride in drinking water, and he is affiliated with groups like the Children’s Health Defense, an organization that blames fluoride for causing a variety of neurological conditions. Conspiracy theorists have evolved their criticism of fluoride from calling it a government mind control plot to misreading studies and claiming it causes lower IQs in children.
Senate Republicans in Kentucky have introduced House Bill 16, legislationto ban fluoride requirements and allow water systems to opt out of using fluoride. HB 16, which has 32 Republican co-sponsors, passed in the Kentucky House in February with a 68-29 vote and one Democrat voting in support.
The bill did not make it to the Kentucky Senate before the end of the 2025 session at the end of March, but it will likely pass in the Senate next year as well since the GOP holds a 31-7 supermajority in the upper chamber. Even if Gov. Andy Beshear (D) vetoes the bill, Republicans can use their majorities to override his vetoes, which they have done extensively in recent years.
Similar bills are moving through Republican-controlled states like Nebraskaand South Dakota, while Ohio and North Dakota are considering bill that outright prohibit public water systems from using fluoride.
Original article online at: https://heartlandsignal.com/2025/05/08/several-republican-controlled-states-advancing-plans-to-ban-fluoride-in-drinking-water/