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MAHA and right-wing media revive debunked claim about the COVID vaccine and miscarriages to attack Dr. Fauci

Media figures spread a false claim that the COVID-19 vaccine caused an 82% miscarriage rate, calling the vaccine an “abortion shot” and saying, “Fauci belongs in prison”

Special Programs Abortion Rights & Reproductive Health

Written by Helena Hind

Published

A press release from two Republican senators containing texts from Dr. Anthony Fauci has revived a bogus claim — based on a flawed interpretation of a 2021 study — that the COVID-19 vaccine caused an 82% miscarriage rate among pregnant people who took it before 20 weeks of gestation. Right-wing media figures, MAHA organizations, and online wellness influencers have latched onto the debunked claim even though the authors followed up on the study later that year noting that the miscarriage rate of pregnant people who received the COVID-19 vaccine is consistent with that of the general population.

  • Republicans' anti-Fauci press release falsely claimed that a study has shown the COVID-19 vaccine caused an 82% rate of miscarriages

    • On August 10, Sens. Ron Johnson (R-WI) and Rand Paul (R-KY) released January 2021 texts from Dr. Anthony Fauci, the former director of the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases, discussing potential risks the COVID-19 vaccine could pose to pregnant people. The Washington Post reported: “In one message, according to screenshots the senators released, Fauci wrote: 'Since many people have significant cytokines storm and fever after the 2nd dose. this theoretically could be associated with miscarriage in the 1st trimester.' … In a news release, the senators pointed to several subsequent public statements from Fauci and other administration officials in which they said the benefits of pregnant women getting vaccinated appeared to outweigh the risks.” The Post also explained: “The CDC states that with more than a million pregnant women vaccinated globally, studies have not shown increased risk for complications like miscarriage, preterm delivery and more. Health officials have said such past exchanges reflect the evolving nature of the science and debate at the time.” [The Washington Post, 8/10/26]
    • The senators' press release contained a debunked claim that a 2021 study in the New England Journal of Medicine showed an 82% miscarriage rate among pregnant people who received the COVID-19 vaccine. Reuters debunked the claim in 2021, explaining: “The posts have taken figures from a table in a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine out of context” and “the calculations also ignore the rate of miscarriage in the general population.” The fact check noted that the 82% estimate “is misleading as it exempts most of the women who took part in the study, who were either still pregnant or waiting for a follow-up” — in fact, “the miscarriage rate among the total number of women in the study who had their vaccine in the first or second trimester would have been 3.65%.” [U.S. Senate, office of Sen. Ron Johnson, 8/10/26; Reuters, 8/4/21]
    • The original study's authors updated and clarified the data in a September 2021 follow-up, concluding, “The estimated risks (14.1% overall and 12.8% in age-standardized analyses) are consistent with the risks of spontaneous abortion reported in the general population.” [The New England Journal of Medicine, 9/8/21]
    • Pediatrician and MAHA figure Dr. Joel “Gator” Warsh posted about the claim, asking people to “STOP spreading the claim,” adding, “It makes no sense.” Warsh also wrote: “You can believe the shots were unsafe or should be pulled—but use accurate data. Repeating easily disproven claims destroys the credibility of the entire medical-freedom movement.” [Instagram, 8/13/26; The Wall Street Journal, 4/10/26]

  • MAHA groups, wellness influencers, and right-wing media spread the claim, calling the COVID-19 vaccine an “abortion shot” and saying, “Fauci belongs in prison”

    • Newsmax host Carl Higbie displayed a 2021 Evie Magazine headline that read “Study shows that up to 8 in 10 women had a miscarriage after getting the COVID-19 vaccine before the third trimester,” adding, “It was based on a New England Journal of Medicine study with actual data.” During the segment, Higbie said, “Every single one of those doctors, actually, should lose their license for not speaking up — every doctor that knew about this and still pushed this, all of them, gone. I don’t care.” He also called for “something like, I don't know, the Nuremberg Trials” based on Fauci's texts. [Newsmax, Carl Higbie Frontline, 8/11/26]
    • Podcaster Benny Johnson claimed, “Some studies say that this resulted in 82% miscarriage rate if administered in the first trimester.” Johnson also claimed the COVID-19 vaccine was “100 times more likely to cause a miscarriage than the typical flu shot.” [YouTube, The Benny Show, 8/11/26]
    • Peter McCullough, who has spread false claims about COVID-19 vaccines, referenced the study in an appearance on right-wing network Real America’s Voice, saying that it showed the “miscarriage rate could be as high as 82%. They actually really don’t know the number.” McCullough posted the clip to his Instagram account with the caption: “Risk of fetal loss extends to the entire mRNA platform.” [Instagram, 8/11/26, 8/11/26; Media Matters, 5/12/26]
    • On his personal podcast, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) cited the release of Fauci’s messages by his GOP colleagues and claimed, “What this study concluded is taking the COVID vaccine, a woman who was in her first trimester of pregnancy had an 82% chance of having a miscarriage, and it had the same effect as taking an abortion drug.” [Verdict with Ted Cruz, 8/12/26]
    • Moms Across America repeated the claim, writing, “Fauci belongs in prison." The post read: “How many babies died because Fauci lied? They said the Covid vaccine had a 12.6% miscarriage rate for pregnant women but it was actually 82%. Fauci belongs in prison.” [Instagram, 8/12/26]
    • MAHA Mom Coalition reposted an Instagram graphic that called the COVID-19 vaccine “an abortion shot.” The account claimed “the raw data revealed an 82% miscarriage rate in women vaccinated during the first trimester,” citing “new documents just released by Senators Johnson and Paul.” [Instagram, 8/11/26]
    • Anti-vaccine medical influencer Austin Lake posted a video of himself opening a gun safe, captioned, “How it feels reading that they knew it caused a miscarriage rate of 82%.” The post also included a graphic claiming “Fauci and his co-conspirators need to be thrown in jail.” Alongside the video, Lake wrote, “How many innocent lives were lost? What’s worse is they knew! Strictly Satire to make a point.” [Instagram, 8/11/26, 2/1/26]
    • Children's Health Defense posted, then seemingly deleted a graphic that read: “They told us 12.6% of women miscarried. They lied. It was actually 82%.” The organization cited Johnson's press release in an article on its website but referenced the correct numbers from the New England Journal of Medicine study and did not repeat the 82% claim. [Instagram, 8/11/26; Children's Health Defense, 8/10/26]
    • Wellness influencer Thuy Improta: “The news about Fauci knowing the spontaneous abortion rate was actually 82% instead of 12% … It's truly criminal.” [Instagram, 8/12/26]