Cancer survivors and families of those with chronic illnesses who allege pesticides caused their disease were front and center during a protest outside the Supreme Court on Monday as justices heard Bayer’s request for immunity from legal liability for not warning patients that its product, RoundUp, might cause cancer.
Hundreds of Make America Healthy Again advocates demonstrated in the “People v. Poison” event outside the courthouse, protesting the Trump administration’s support of Bayer, the defendant in the case, Monsanto v. Durnell, which concerns consumer liabilities for the chemical glyphosate.
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Glyphosate, a non-specific herbicide and the main chemical in the household weedkiller RoundUp, is the most common pesticide used in the United States.
In 2015, the International Agency on Cancer Research, part of the World Health Organization, declared glyphosate “probably a human carcinogen,” sparking a wave of litigation against its maker, Monsanto, for not warning consumers about the potential cancer risk.
The German pharmaceutical giant Bayer, which bought out Monsanto in 2018, received support from the Justice Department in its case before the court.
Bayer and the DOJ argue that the Environmental Protection Agency has sole authority to determine which warnings appear on the product’s label. The EPA has reviewed glyphosate since 1974 and has never declared it a danger to human health.
But key players in the MAHA movement see the Trump administration’s support of Bayer, along with President Donald Trump’s executive order to boost domestic glyphosate production, as a betrayal.
Several demonstrators told the Washington Examiner at the event that they believe their cancer diagnoses were caused by exposure to glyphosate.
Angela Huffman, president of the nonpartisan watchdog Farm Action and speaker at the event, told the Washington Examiner that she was diagnosed with cancer at age 36. She said she’s disappointed in Trump, who she says promised on the campaign trail “to get toxic chemicals out of our food and out of our bodies.”
“They voted for him and put faith in him to do that, and in his administration, they’re doing the opposite,” Huffman said.
Huffman said during her speech to rally attendees that cancer rates are on the rise, especially among young adults.
“Across the biggest corn-producing states, younger adults are seeing higher cancer rates than the rest of the country,” Huffman said in the speech. “That should get our attention. This didn’t happen by accident.”
Between 1990 and 2019, the global incidence of early-onset cancer in patients under 50 increased by nearly 80%, according to a 2025 analysis from French researchers.
Melissa, 35, from Northern California, told the Washington Examiner that she survived non-Hodgkins lymphoma in her late 20s, which she believes was caused by glyphosate exposure. She said food and wellness is her top political issue.
“We can’t think properly if our bodies aren’t functioning properly,” she said. “How can we create a healthy society if we don’t have healthy bodies?”
When asked how the glyphosate issue might influence her vote in the November midterm elections, Melissa said she was disappointed that none of the candidates in California’s gubernatorial election are focusing on food or soil health.
“If this keeps happening, and if this is allowed, I think a lot of us are going to lose hope,” Melissa said.
Sarah Starman, a third-generation farmer from Maryland and chief campaigner with the environmental group Friends of the Earth, told the Washington Examiner that her grandfather, who ran the family farm before her, developed Parkinson’s disease after decades of using the pesticide paraquat, which has been strongly linked to the neurological disorder.
She said the Trump administration is failing in its promises to make Americans healthier.
“Whether it’s HHS, USDA, the EPA, or Trump himself, I don’t think we’ve seen anyone in this administration stand up to the chemical companies and put our health first or truly invest in organic and regenerative agriculture,” Starman said. “From Trump all the way down, this administration isn’t working for people.”
