Public health professionals within and outside government are currently facing a powerful and wide-ranging backlash. It can be seen in state laws and judicial decisions limiting the role of health agencies, threats to public health workers, efforts to limit access to reproductive and transgender health, and campaigns against efforts to redress health inequities. Because members of disadvantaged communities are and will remain the main victims of this backlash, it is likely to constitute a major obstacle for ongoing work and initiatives aimed at eradicating health inequities. Panel speakers will address the historical and contemporary roots of this anti-public health backlash, how forces such as political polarization propel it, and why anti-public health messages resonate with much of the public. These speakers will also assess how public health policy and practice can respond to these challenges and find the best way to communicate about public health with the public.