Robert F. Kennedy Jr, the United States’ top public health official, recently claimed some religious groups avoid the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine because it contains “aborted fetus debris” and “DNA particles”. Credit: Annie Rice/AP, provided by The ConversationThere’s no fetal debris in the MMR vaccineKennedy said “aborted fetus debris” in MMR vaccines is the reason many religious people refuse vaccination. Kennedy’s claim about fetal debris specifically refers to the rubella component of the MMR vaccine. Kennedy claimed the Mennonites’ reluctance to vaccinate stems from “religious objections” to what he described as “a lot of aborted fetus debris and DNA particles” in the MMR vaccine. The bottom lineDespite what Kennedy would have you believe, there’s no fetal debris in the MMR vaccine, and the trace amounts of DNA fragments that may remain pose no health risk.