Thousands Sign RFK Jr. 'Autism Registry' Petition

An online petition in opposition of U.S. Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s purported plan to enact a national "autism registry" saw signatures increase 15-fold in less than 24 hours.

Why It Matters

Kennedy and the National Institutes of Health (NIH), an agency under the guise of HHS, are overseeing plans to launch a registry to track autistic Americans as a means of collecting personal patient information for autism research, according to CBS News.

The secretary has not publicly commented on or referred to such a registry being formed and circulated.

What To Know

Signatures on one particular Change.org petition climbed from 2,500 signatures to almost 35,000 in less than 24 hours, a Change.org spokesperson told Newsweek.

As of Thursday evening, more than 36,200 signatures were garnered from parents of autistic children and advocates nationwide who have expressed concerns about a federal government database collecting and tracking medical, behavioral and biometric data—potentially without consent.

The petition was started on Tuesday by Ryan Smith, a parent of two neurodivergent children (a daughter, 10, and a son, 9), wrote on the petition website that Kennedy's alleged plan is not meant to support the autistic community but is for "surveillance."

"I'm a pretty quiet person," Smith told Newsweek on Thursday. "I was hesitant to do it but wanted it publicized. I wanted 10,000 signatures.

"I didn't expect it to go like it did. That just shows me it resonates with people. A lot of people feel very strongly about it, and the ethics behind it."

He said that the "shroud of secrecy" is likely his biggest concern, with not knowing how data would be provided and a lack of transparency about where it could end up. He also expressed concern about such information negatively affecting his kids' future with employment or health care.

"My kids are just amazing people and the way these studies are being talked about, it feels stigmatizing the wording they're using—like a disease waiting to be cured, instead of offering services to build them up to be better more productive members of society," Smith said. "That got under my skin."

Other remarks Kennedy has made, like that some autistic individuals will never write a poem or play baseball, for example, also irked the Idaho resident.

"I was really angry, and watching my kids that is not my experience at all," Smith said. "They're brilliant. A lot of autistic parents say their kids are amazing, with the talent and drive they have."

He said rather than focus on national registries, he would like to see more state or federal services and programs in place—which he described as a "lifeline" for receiving counseling, therapies and funded programs through school, like the Individualized Educational Program (IEP).

He and petitioners "demand" the following:

• An immediate halt to all federal autism data aggregation efforts conducted without informed, written consent from individuals or guardians.

• A full investigation into how this data is being sourced, shared and stored.

• Federal protections to prevent the creation of any registry targeting individuals with disabilities without public transparency, oversight and legal safeguards.

What People Are Saying

Erika, of Huntsville, in a petition signature: "I'm autistic. It's not easy, but my life has definitely been worth living, and I am a productive member of society. I refuse to let you track me without my consent for the false promise of a cure."

A statement from the Autistic Self Advocacy Network: "Members of this administration have repeatedly used eugenic language to talk about people with disabilities—for example, Trump's alleged comments that disabled people 'should just die,' RFK Jr.'s devaluation of autistic lives, and Elon Musk's public support for eugenics. This makes the administration seem like a particularly untrustworthy locus for a registry to track autistic people. The disability community, and many other marginalized communities, have reasonable fears, based in both historical events and in current policy pursued by the administration, of any attempts to create lists of marginalized people."

What Happens Next

Another Change.org petition that began three years ago has received an influx of new signatures as of this week, imploring groups like the American Civil Liberties Union to file lawsuits against "mandatory databases."