The Bipartisan Path to Making Americans Healthy

By Dr. Michael Shank and Dr. Susie Strife

By many accounts, America is becoming increasingly divided and polarized. Measures of public trust, political identity, media consumption, and even where people choose to live all point to a country that often feels more fractured than connected. At times, the intensity of our political climate can leave even relatively apolitical Americans wondering how much common ground we still share.

And yet, there’s another trend happening at the same time that is blurring these traditional political alignments and setting the stage for a recalibration of how Americans identify, align and organize. And it’s happening within the framework of what is healthy and what is not.

Recently, we’ve seen new bipartisan coalitions come together to protect Americans from the harmful effects of pesticides and toxics in our food systems, protect our veterans from the harmful effects of untreated post-traumatic stress disorder, and protect our kids from the harmful effects of social media. And in each of those efforts, Republicans and Democrats from both sides of the political aisle have come together to protect the health of fellow Americans.

This health-centric framing is powerful and provides a useful guide for future work together. Take a look at the foundation being set across multiple issues and sectors.

First, on tackling toxics and pesticides, the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) movement witnessed a recent win in House Farm Bill deliberations in Congress, by keeping out industry-backed pesticide protections.

The MAHA-led amendment to the Farm Bill, introduced by Republican members of Congress with bipartisan support, removed language that would have protected pesticide companies from certain health-related lawsuits and limited states’ ability to add warning labels about the potential health effects of carcinogenic pesticides. For many advocates, this represents a meaningful step toward better protecting children’s health, public transparency and the environment.

That same MAHA-based movement that provided Republicans with support for that Farm Bill amendment is also witnessing traction across state legislatures in banning unhealthy dyes from food. New partnerships are also emerging between traditionally left-leaning institutions like the Organic Trade Association and the MAHA movement, as MAHA is now one of the most outspoken advocates in Washington and in state legislatures for organic food and regenerative farming.

What’s most notable after the anti-pesticide Farm Bill win in the House of Representatives is how emboldened MAHA members of Congress have become, especially given the chemical industry’s historical role in drafting farm bill legislation and maintaining industry protections. This bodes well for future work and potential to coalesce around other health-related protections when it comes to agricultural policy and more.

Second, on addressing post-traumatic stress disorder impacting veterans, again, it was a bipartisan movement that came together to make sure veterans’ health was prioritized and that they were getting access to effective therapies.

That the federal government is now expanding access to psychedelic-assisted therapies for veterans suffering from mental health conditions, including PTSD, depression and addiction, illustrates just how powerful this unique coalition has become.

Conservatives historically were opposed to psilocybin and LSD, but a rebrand of the drugs as medicines, with military veterans as the messengers, helped free psychedelics from America’s politicized culture wars. There is also a bipartisan caucus in Congress, called the Congressional Psychedelics Advancing Therapies Caucus, composed of military veterans who have been working to free up psychedelic research from federal restrictions. And last month, on the heels of the White House’s executive order, that bipartisan congressional caucus urged the Food and Drug Administration to expedite review of these mental health therapies. This, too, bodes well for future mental health work together.

Third, on social media, in a rare show of bipartisan force, over 40 state attorneys general sued Facebook’s parent company, Meta, over its addictive features aimed at youth. Relatedly, support for limiting or banning phones in schools has come from Democratic and Republican governors, state legislatures, educators and many parents across the political spectrum. More than 30 states now have some form of statewide restriction on student phone use during the school day.

While Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg continues to double down on his claims that social media does not cause mental health harms, other countries like Australia are banning its use. France, Greece, Spain and Cyprus are moving forward with national legislation to protect children’s mental health and development from social media, and the European Commission is considering a ban on social media access for children under 16 years of age.

The state of New Mexico, meanwhile, after taking Meta to court, seeking billions in damages for “designing its products to addict young users and failing to protect children from sexual exploitation on its platforms”, recently witnessed a win. The jury found Meta liable for misleading consumers about the safety of its platforms and endangering children, and ordered Meta to pay $5,000 per violation, totaling $375 million, for violating the state’s consumer protection laws.

A few years ago, this bipartisanship would have been unthinkable and these social media giants would have been invincible. But times are changing thanks to a bipartisan push to protect American youth from unhealthy products.

These wins — across physical and mental health fronts — are impressive and bode well for future work together across the political aisle. If more Democrats and Republicans can find common cause across a range of health-improving policies, as we work together to make our physical and digital environments less toxic and less harmful, we may witness more wins in the near future that can benefit all Americans.

This is a winnable roadmap for a healthier America.

Applying the same bipartisan approach described above, once we get toxics like glyphosate out of our food system (and out of our forests, too), the next step could be addressing harmful chemicals in our homes and offices, where exposure to cancer-causing substances in the built environment also poses serious health risks. There’s even bipartisan support for getting toxic forever chemicals out of clothing, too.

The sky’s the limit. We could even tackle toxins there, too, like pollutants and hazardous chemicals.

There’s plenty we can do together to make our country healthier, and there may be some unexpected allies ready to work with us on it. At a time when so much feels divided, finding practical ways to protect our health, our families, and our environment may be one place we can still make meaningful progress together.

Dr. Susie Strife is the sustainability director for Boulder County, Colorado, and an affiliate faculty member at the University of Colorado Boulder, where she teaches graduate courses in sustainability and climate leadership. Dr. Michael Shank is an adjunct faculty member at New York University’s Center for Global Affairs and a visiting scholar at George Mason University’s Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution.