Trump’s Tylenol Attack Is About More Than Science. It’s About Controlling Women
On September 22, Donald Trump declared on national TV that pregnant women should never take Tylenol because it “causes autism.” His statement went far beyond his own Food and Drug Administration’s advice. The FDA merely suggested doctors “consider minimizing” acetaminophen use in pregnancy amid inconclusive evidence. As the Associated Press reported, Trump also repeated discredited claims about vaccines and autism, shocking doctors and scientists across the country.
Dr. Steven Fleischman, president of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), said Trump’s comments risk terrifying parents. “I don’t want you going back and looking and saying to yourself, ‘I shouldn’t have done this, I shouldn’t have done that.’ It’s nothing you did. It really is not.”
ACOG later issued a formal statement affirming the safety of acetaminophen in pregnancy. “In more than two decades of research on the use of acetaminophen in pregnancy, not a single reputable study has successfully concluded that the use of acetaminophen in any trimester of pregnancy causes neurodevelopmental disorders in children,” the group wrote.
What the science actually says about Tylenol and pregnancy
Acetaminophen, commonly sold as Tylenol, is one of the few pain and fever medications considered safe during pregnancy. Doctors often recommend it because untreated fevers increase risks for miscarriage, preterm birth, and other complications.
PBS reporting shows that while some studies found an “association” between prenatal acetaminophen use and autism, others did not. And association is not causation. The largest and most rigorous study to date, published in 2024 and involving 2.5 million births in Sweden, found no evidence of increased risk for autism, ADHD, or intellectual disability. Lead researcher Brian Lee explained that initial associations disappeared when comparing siblings, suggesting genetics or underlying maternal health conditions explained the link.
In other words, the evidence does not show Tylenol causes autism. What it does show is that untreated pain and fever during pregnancy are demonstrably dangerous.
Tylenol as a political weapon
The backlash from medical professionals is about science, but Trump’s rhetoric is about power. By casting doubt on Tylenol—the one widely approved option for pain during pregnancy—he reasserts an old patriarchal idea: that motherhood and womanhood should be painful.
The timing also matters. As the AP noted, Trump’s announcement coincided with his administration promoting leucovorin, an unproven “treatment” for autism. That juxtaposition—discrediting one of the safest tools for pregnant people while pushing untested alternatives—mirrors his COVID-era playbook of misinformation paired with political posturing.
The Christian Nationalist undertone in Tylenol claims
This is where public health collides with ideology. White Christian Nationalism is shown to rely on rigid hierarchies: God over man, man over woman, parents over children. As Philip Gorski and Samuel Perry have argued, it promotes a worldview that frames suffering as virtuous and women’s autonomy as secondary to reproduction.
Trump’s attack on Tylenol fits squarely into that frame. By suggesting that pain relief is suspect, and that women should endure pregnancy without intervention, he echoes a Christian Nationalist belief that motherhood is divinely sanctioned suffering. As Andrew Whitehead’s research at Purdue shows, this movement often conflates “natural” roles for women with religious duty, leaving little room for medical nuance or reproductive choice.
Doctors warn the harm is immediate
Doctors fear the consequences of this rhetoric will not stay abstract. “Pregnant patients should not be frightened away from the many benefits of acetaminophen, which is safe and one of the few options pregnant people have for pain relief,” said Dr. Christopher Zahn of ACOG to PBS.
Yet misinformation spreads quickly. As vaccine expert Dr. Paul Offit told the AP, “No doubt children will suffer” from Trump’s claims. For pregnant people, the harm may come from untreated medical conditions, while for children, it may come from decreased vaccine uptake driven by the same recycled conspiracy theories.
The bigger picture: Women’s pain as political currency
At its core, this controversy is about more than Tylenol. It is about who gets to decide how women experience pregnancy and motherhood. For decades, women’s pain has been minimized or ignored in medicine. Now, that neglect is being weaponized as political messaging.
Trump’s claims revive long-debunked myths while advancing an ideological vision rooted in Christian Nationalism: one that frames women’s bodies as sites of suffering for the sake of nation, faith, and control. For pregnant people navigating already limited options, the cost of this rhetoric is not theoretical. It is measured in their health, autonomy, and survival.
