The U.S. Supreme Court decided Thursday that Monsanto, the manufacturer and distributor of Roundup, cannot be held liable for failing to inform consumers of the alleged cancer risks of its weedkiller.
The 7-2 decision, authored by Justice Brett Kavanaugh, held that federal laws regulating the sale and labeling of pesticides do not permit lawsuits in state courts because the Environmental Protection Agency has repeatedly concluded that glyphosate, the active ingredient in the weedkiller, is “not likely to cause cancer”. (RELATED: Supreme Court Rules In Favor Of Trump Administration On Green Card Holders)
However, members of the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) community tell the Daily Caller in a statement that the decision takes away the rights of those who have suffered from glyphosate exposure to hold Monsanto legally accountable.
“The Supreme Court’s ruling in favor of foreign chemical companies, which essentially allows them immunity from lawsuits, is a travesty against the American Constitution and federal and state laws,” Zen Honeycutt, Moms Across America, said, adding that the decision was an attack on the Seventh Amendment and allows for the continued poisoning of Americans and their soil.
French farmer Nicolas Denieul sprays Roundup 720 glyphosate herbicide produced by US agrochemical giant Monsanto on May 11, 2018, on a field of no-till corn in Piace, northwestern France. (Photo by JEAN-FRANCOIS MONIER/AFP via Getty Images)
Similarly, Elizabeth Kucinich, a human and ecological security specialist and former Director of Policy at the Center for Food Safety, said that the ruling sets a “dangerous precedent by elevating regulatory approval above judicial review and citizen access to justice.”
“The separation of powers exists to provide independent oversight and protect against regulatory capture,” Kucinich continued. “No agency should have the final word on corporate accountability when products designed to kill are released into the environment and used throughout our food system.”
Former Democrat Ohio Rep. Tim Ryan said that President Donald Trump had committed a “serious betrayal” after having campaigned on MAHA and then proceeded to file “legal briefs protecting Bayer-Monsanto from farmers who got cancer because of their products.”
“There’s a real awakening happening in this country around food safety and toxic chemicals, and this court ruling cannot stop that,” Ryan added. “We’re going to keep fighting to help farmers transition away from these pesticides, and to hold the corporations that profit from them accountable.”
In 2019, John Durnell brought a state failure to warn claim against Monsanto, claiming that Roundup had contributed to his development of blood cancer, which was, and still is not, listed as a warning on the label, according to the ruling.
Chief Justice John Roberts — as well as Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, and Amy Coney Barrett — concurred with the majority opinion, while Justices Ketanji Brown Jackson and Neil Gorsuch dissented.
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