Republican Women Prioritize Health More Than Others, and Are More Apt to Believe Misinformation

For more on the relationship between politics and personal and public health beliefs, see our report Health and Wellness in the Age of MAHA.

Chasing health trends is nothing new. When medical science is inaccessible (or gated by labyrinthian insurance policies) or just difficult to understand, consumers are prone to follow self-designated experts, credentialed or not, who can make things seem simple, or point to a bogeyman. 

Sometimes the bogeyman is Western medicine. A new Morning Consult report that explores the political divide in attitudes about health and wellness shows that Republicans are more likely than Democrats to believe Americans were better off before the advent of modern medicine and the current healthcare system (28% versus 23%, respectively), with Republican men holding the most extreme views on that question. 

Republican women, though, uniquely put their health ahead of other priorities, and in general, are likely to be more extreme in their health than their Republican male and Democratic female counterparts. For example, 18% of Republican women call themselves vaccine skeptics, compared to 5% of Democratic women who do the same. So how did we get here?

Republican women place enormous importance on health for themselves and their families

When asked about health priorities in the context of other important life priorities, like financial and career goals, Republican women led on prioritizing their own health and that of their families. They also led on life priorities that cultivate community, like spending time with family and friends and religion, which can contribute to stronger mental health.

When asked what’s important to living a healthy lifestyle, Republican women were also the political group most likely to say a healthy diet is a priority (70% versus 63% of the general population). 

These priorities also help to explain the accelerating tradwife content on social media that has a distinctly conservative bent. This content typically features women as homemakers, preparing healthy, preservative-free meals from scratch for their children or collecting eggs on their homestead farms. These videos promote a simpler life, away from the corporate rat race, with an emphasis on traditional gender roles in a nuclear family. (Never mind that the successful influencers making these videos are likely outearning their spouses.) 

Facebook is a top source of health information

For better or worse, half of U.S. adults get their health information from social media. A slightly larger share (53%) of Republican women said they lean on social platforms for health information or guidance, more than any other source tested. Just under half (47%) said they use medical websites for the same purpose. 

Republican women lean on Facebook and Pinterest for health information at higher rates than the general population does. Social feeds contribute to different points of view on health information given that algorithms feed users content they’re predicted to prefer, so it’s likely that Democrats and Republicans are seeing very different takes from health experts (or those claiming to be health experts) with very different recommendations. To their credit, Pinterest prohibits health misinformation on its platform, including anti-vaccine advice.

Social media also sees the most frequent usage for health information of all sources tested, meaning people are consuming health information from social media more often than any other source tested. Four in five (80%) of U.S. adults are consuming health information on social media at least weekly, and that is consistent across parties. Republican women are likely to rely on friends and family for health guidance, and they are also more likely to trust current Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kenney Jr. (49% versus 35% of the general population), though Republican men trust him even more at 58%. By comparison, just 23% of Republican women trust Dr. Anthony Fauci, versus 42% of all U.S. adults. 

Social media feeds into health misinformation

Unfortunately, relying more on unscientific sources contributes to following questionable health trends, like drinking raw milk or avoiding fluoride. When asked if some trending health topics are better or worse for your health, Republican women were more likely to reject those with the backing of modern medicine. Some issues did see more universal consensus, for example, concerns about microplastics getting into food via plastic cookware usage, which are valid but need more research into the long-term health impacts.

Most concerning is vaccine misinformation. More than a quarter of Republican women (28%) believe it’s better to find alternatives to vaccines, and 22% believe early childhood vaccines cause autism (8% of Democratic women share that belief). This demonstrably false but pervasive narrative has contributed to public health crises like the recent measles outbreak, and unfortunately runs counter to the goal of keeping families healthy.

This information gap also leads to disagreements about where the biggest health threats come from. Republican women are more likely than most to see obesity, vaping, microplastics, GMO foods and seed oils as major threats to public health. Democratic women tend to see greater threats from communicable diseases like Covid-19, measles and polio. (Note that this survey was conducted at the end of February and early March 2025, prior to the news of a measles outbreak in the U.S. breaking into mainstream media.)

The tension here is that in an attempt to keep themselves and their families as healthy as possible, a mistrust for institutions leads these women to seek information from alternative sources that expose them to misinformation, which can ultimately make their families sicker. 

For more on the relationship between politics and personal and public health beliefs, see our report Health and Wellness in the Age of MAHA.