Cliff+D's+2015+OpEd+Article

How on Earth does the Anti-Vaccine Movement Exist?

What is the value of anecdotal evidence in the age of information? What is the biased testimony of middle-aged women and former Playboy Magazine star celebrity Jenny McCarthy compared to the hundreds of official scientific studies that prove vaccines have no link to autism.

"The evidence is clear: vaccines do not cause autism spectrum disorder (ASD)" ~ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

The Institute of Medicine is a non-profit and non-governmental organization that has stated: "After reviewing more than 200 studies in 2004 and more than 1,000 studies in 2011, the consensus report strongly stated that the evidence did not show a link between vaccines and autism." (Report)

I could go on and on with more evidence proving that vaccines are not harmful in any way. Science officials who have PhD's and Masters Degrees and have done extensive research and studies concur that vaccines just //do not// cause autism.

So why on earth does //anyone// cling fervently to the belief that they do?

Are they just emotionally-distressed parents desperately trying to rationalize why //their// child, out of all the children in the world, **//their//** //child//, has autism?

"Parents are clamoring for a cause," says David Tayloe, MD, a pediatrician and president-elect of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP).

Here's the bottom line: If you are going to live in a 1st World Country, you need to be a 1st World Citizen. That means getting vaccines to prevent disease outbreaks (like the measles in California). These are carefully developed tools of medicine with no adverse side effects, no matter //what// some clearly-uneducated middle class mothers think.  We have the privilege of living in a world where smallpox and measles can be stopped with 50ml of a clear fluid. But somehow some people are in favor of risking their child's life rather than having this **proven** non-harmful liquid injected into his/her shoulder. Vaccines need to become //Federally Mandatory//. Steps need to be taken to protect children from neglectant parents. Vaccination is not a debate. Vaccination is a responsibility.