The MAHA Bait-and-Switch

A doctor's warning to the wellness world.

"Stay in your lane," they said. Well, THIS is my lane.

I'm a board-certified ER physician with 10 years in emergency medicine and 12 years in longevity medicine. My specialty? Metabolic health, sexual health, and hormones.

I live in both worlds—traditional medicine AND wellness. I believe in medications, as well as strategic supplements and breath work. I believe in surgery, but also saunas and sun exposure. I've seen both systems fail people, and I've seen both heal them.

As someone who has been in the wellness industry for over a decade, I need to tell you something: You are being played.

The Bait and Switch

You leaned into Make America Great Again (MAHA) because traditional medicine failed you. You want better for yourself and your kids. I get that—I've been there too.

You celebrated when they talked about removing red dye from foods. You laughed at RFK’s raw milk shots and felt vindicated about your "crazy" wellness beliefs. Finally, someone in power was talking your language.

But while you're distracted by the shiny objects, something sinister is happening behind the scenes.

What's Actually Happening Right Now

The Trump administration’s second-term environmental rollbacks are reshaping regulatory landscapes in ways that disproportionately endanger women’s health, particularly through increased exposure to endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs), pesticides, air pollutants, and inadequately regulated wastewater. While Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. publicly emphasizes addressing chronic diseases and environmental toxins, his rhetoric often clashes with the administration’s aggressive deregulation. Mass firings and rollbacks within the EPA, paired with pro-Big Agriculture and pro-Big Industry policies, mean…

Water contamination is getting worse, not better

• PFAS limits in drinking water? Delayed and rescinded, exposing 105 million people to "forever chemicals"

• Clean Water Act protections? Stripped from 60% of wetlands and streams

• Industrial wastewater discharge limits? Rolled back

Chemical exposure is increasing:

• Pesticide warning labels? Blocked at the federal level

• Atrazine levels in waterways? TRIPLED to a dangerous 9.7 ppb

• Glyphosate restrictions? Paused indefinitely

• GMO crop approvals? Fast-tracked with fewer safety reviews

Air quality protections are vanishing:

• Vehicle emissions standards? Rolled back

• Power plant regulations? Eliminated

• Mercury limits? Rescinded

Clean air, clean water, clean food—these ARE the cornerstones of wellness. Without them, your expensive supplements and biohacking protocols are like putting a band-aid on a severed artery.

This Is My Lane: Your Hormones Are Under Attack

You want me to stay in my lane? Protecting women’s hormonal health from environmental toxins IS my lane.

Here's what these rollbacks mean for your hormones—the very systems many of you came to me to heal:

PFAS exposure (now increasing due to relaxed regulations):

• Impairs ovarian function and disrupts menstrual cycles

• Linked to PCOS, endometriosis, and infertility

• Increases breast and thyroid cancer risk

• Crosses the placenta, affecting your children before they're born

Glyphosate (now with blocked warning labels):

• Disrupts estrogen pathways

• Associated with ovarian dysfunction and irregular periods

• Found in 90% of U.S. food samples

• Damages the gut microbiome you're working so hard to heal

Atrazine (now at triple the previous limits):

• Causes menstrual irregularities and preterm births

• Linked to hormone-dependent cancers

• Persists in groundwater for decades

Air pollution (from relaxed emissions standards):

• Alters estrogen metabolism

• Increases uterine fibroid growth

• Causes preterm births and low birth weight

• Damages fertility in both men and women

These aren't abstract policy debates. These are the exact endocrine disruptors I've been helping patients detox from for over a decade.

The Cruel Irony

Here's what makes this especially maddening: RFK Jr. built his reputation criticizing these exact chemicals. He's written extensively about glyphosate being a "poison" and mercury being neurotoxic. His MAHA report specifically blames environmental toxins for chronic disease.

Yet his administration has:

• Rescinded mercury emission limits

• Blocked glyphosate warning labels

• Eliminated EPA environmental justice offices

• Cut funding for chronic disease research

It's like watching someone preach about the dangers of smoking while secretly working for Big Tobacco.

We Need to Wake Up

The wellness community prides itself on seeing through corporate manipulation. You've rejected the medical establishment's "pill for every problem" approach. You've questioned Big Pharma's motives. You've researched ingredients and demanded transparency.

So why aren't you applying that same scrutiny here?

While you're celebrating cultural victories, the actual foundations of health—clean air, water, and soil—are being auctioned off to the highest bidder.

What This Means for You

Your morning meditation won't protect you from PFAS in your water.

Your organic diet won't help if glyphosate levels keep rising unchecked.

Your expensive air purifier can't compete with power plants dumping unlimited mercury into the atmosphere.

Your hormone-balancing supplements become less effective when your endocrine system is under constant assault from environmental toxins.

The Path Forward

I'm not telling you to abandon wellness practices—I'm telling you to protect them.

Real wellness requires:

• Clean water (not just filtered, but clean at the source)

• Uncontaminated soil (so your organic food is actually clean)

• Breathable air (that doesn't require constant detoxification)

• Honest labeling (so you know what you're consuming)

These aren't political issues—they're health issues. They're wellness issues. They're YOUR issues.

My Challenge to the Wellness Community

You have power. You have platforms. You have passionate communities that trust your voices.

Use them.

Stop letting politicians weaponize your legitimate health concerns while simultaneously poisoning the environment that makes health possible.

Demand better—not just from food companies, but from policymakers.

Make noise about water quality, not just water filters.

Fight for clean air policies, not just air purifiers.

Push for pesticide restrictions, not just organic food access.

This IS Your Lane Too

Whatever your politics were, THIS is what's happening NOW.

Your hormones don't care about party affiliation. Your children's developing brains don't distinguish between red and blue policies. Cancer cells don't check voter registration before they multiply.

We in the wellness world need to pull our heads out of our asses and start making noise about the policies that determine whether wellness is possible.

Because at the end of the day, you can't biohack your way out of a poisoned planet.

---

Dr. Amy Killen is a board-certified emergency physician specializing in metabolic health, hormones, and longevity medicine. She has spent 12 years bridging traditional medicine with evidence-based wellness practices.

References:

1. Per- and Poly-fluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) and Female Reproductive Health
   National Library of Medicine
   https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8743032/

2. PFAS: Ask a Scientist
   Breast Cancer Prevention Partners (BCPP)
   https://www.bcpp.org/pfas-ask-a-scientist/

3. Association Between Prenatal Perfluorinated Compounds Exposure and Pregnancy Complications
   ScienceDirect
   https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0147651324000927

4. Decoding PFAS: How Forever Chemicals Affect Hormonal Balance
   Vibrant Wellness
   https://vibrant-wellness.com/blog/-decoding-pfas-how-forever-chemicals-affect-hormonal-balance

5. Catastrophic Harm to Women from Pesticides
   Beyond Pesticides
   https://beyondpesticides.org/dailynewsblog/2025/03/catastrophic-harm-to-women-from-pesticides-drives-call-for-their-elimination/

6. Glyphosate Risks to Female Fertility and Reproductive Health
   U.S. Right to Know
   https://usrtk.org/healthwire/glyphosate-risks-to-female-fertility-reproductive-health/

7. Atrazine Exposure and Reproductive Dysfunction
   National Library of Medicine
   https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5507375/

8. Chlorpyrifos and Its Association with Breast Cancer
   Journal of Clinical Medicine and Biotechnology
   https://www.biolscigroup.us/articles/JCMBT-9-155.php

9. Reproductive Health and Pesticides
   Pesticide Action Network
   https://www.panna.org/resources/reproductive-health/

10. Air Pollution Could Potentially Exacerbate Menopause Symptoms
    Inside Climate News
    https://insideclimatenews.org/news/01052024/air-pollution-menopause-symptoms/

11. Impact of PM2.5 on Human Reproductive Health
    Journal of Science and Medicine
    https://www.jscimedcentral.com/public/assets/articles/environmentalscience-10-1078.pdf

12. Prenatal Exposure to Mercury and Adverse Birth Outcomes
    The Journal of Maternal and Child Health
    https://thejmch.com/index.php/thejmch/article/view/779

13. Air Pollution and Uterine Fibroids
    PubMed
    https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30819602/

14. EPA Rollbacks Could Endanger Public Health
    The Daily Climate
    https://www.dailyclimate.org/epa-rollbacks-could-endanger-public-health-experts-warn-2671377060.html

15. Potential Health Impacts of GMOs
    The Non-GMO Project
    https://www.nongmoproject.org/blog/gmofacts/potential-health-impacts-of-gmos/

16. Glyphosate Exposure Linked to Infertility and Reproductive Disorders
    Environmental Health News
    https://www.ehn.org/glyphosate-exposure-linked-to-infertility-and-reproductive-disorders-study-finds

17. Pesticide Poisoning
    Iowa Department of Health
    https://hhs.iowa.gov/epi-manual-guide-surveillance-investigation-and-reporting/environmental-disease/pesticide-poisoning

18. Glyphosate, Endocrine Disruption, and Cancers
    Food Times
    https://www.foodtimes.eu/food-system/glyphosate-endocrine-disruption-and-cancers-new-evidence/

19. Reproductive Health Impact from Hazardous Chemicals
    Chemscape
    https://www.chemscape.com/resources/the-reproductive-system

20. RFK Jr. Plans Autism Studies Linked to Environmental Toxins
    NBC News
    https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/rfk-jr-autism-studies-environmental-toxins-rising-rates-rcna201582

Other Sources:

Official Government and Regulatory Sources

• EPA Press Releases & Regulatory Announcements
  The EPA’s own website and press releases detail ongoing rollbacks, including the March 2025 “31 Historic Actions” announcement:

  • EPA Launches Biggest Deregulatory Action in U.S. History7

  • EPA Official PDF: Deregulatory Actions and Announcements (March 2025)14

• White House Communications
  The White House has published summaries and memos highlighting the administration’s deregulatory agenda:

  • President Trump’s Deregulation Effort Has Already Saved Families Thousands of Dollars8

News and Watchdog Trackers

• Trump Climate and Clean Energy Rollback Tracker
  A comprehensive, regularly updated tracker of climate, clean air, water, and environmental justice rollbacks:

  • Act on Climate: Trump Rollback Tracker1

• The New York Times: Interactive List of Environmental Rollbacks
  A detailed, searchable database of more than 100 environmental rules reversed, revoked, or weakened:

  • NYT: The Trump Administration Rolled Back More Than 100 Environmental Rules10

• Los Angeles Times: EPA Rollbacks and Office Closures
  Reporting on the closure of EPA environmental justice offices and dozens of rule reversals:

  • LA Times: Trump’s EPA Takes Steps to Roll Back Dozens of Environmental Rules2

• CNN: Rapid-Fire Rollbacks on Pollution Rules
  Coverage of the administration’s moves to reverse rules on power plant emissions, vehicle standards, and more:

  • CNN: Trump Takes an Ax to More Than a Dozen Pollution Rules12

• Sidley Environmental Energy Brief
  Legal analysis of the first-day executive orders and regulatory reversals:

  • Top 5 Environmental Actions You Should Know from President Trump’s First Day3

Investigative and Advocacy Reports

• Earthjustice: Trump’s Environmental Mess
  Summaries of legal challenges and the environmental consequences of major rollbacks:

  • We’re Still Cleaning Up the Trump Administration’s Environmental Mess9

• Rhodium Group: The Emissions Impact of Trump-Era Rollbacks
  Independent analysis of the aggregate emissions impact of regulatory changes:

  • The Emissions Impact of Trump-Era Rollbacks6

• LCV Victory Fund: Trump’s Environmental Record
  A summary of the scope and scale of rollbacks, including air, water, and toxic chemicals:

  • Donald Trump’s Disastrous Environmental Record15

• Brookings Institution: Tracking Deregulatory Actions
  Policy analysis and a running tally of weakened environmental protections:

  • What is the Trump administration’s track record on the environment?