As the public debate between pro and anti-vaccinations continues, Jenny McCarthy wants you to know she is pro-vaccination, unlike often reported. McCarthy is often credited with starting the anti-vaxx campaign using her clout as a celebrity to gain citizen followers. Stars like Kristin Cavallari have also joined that side, but in a column for the Chicago Sun-Times McCarthy cleared the air surrounding her feelings on vaccinations.
"I am not 'anti-vaccine.'This is not a change in my stance nor is it a new position that I have recently adopted. For years, I have repeatedly stated that I am, in fact, 'pro-vaccine' and for years I have been wrongly branded as 'anti-vaccine.'"
McCarthy goes on to say that the confusion over her stance on the subject comes from her questioning of "the 'one size fits all' philosophy of the recommended vaccine schedule." She doesn't blame vaccinations for her son Evan's autism, but rather questions the amount of shots children are given in their early years.
"I believe in the importance of a vaccine program ... I’ve never told anyone to not vaccinate. Should a child with the flu receive six vaccines in one doctor visit? Should a child with a compromised immune system be treated the same way as a robust, healthy child? Shouldn’t a child with a family history of vaccine reactions have a different plan? Or at least the right to ask questions?"
She also says that she asks questions for the health of her family, but also for other families who want answers to the same questions. Nobody is denying McCarthy's right to ask for more information about the vaccination schedule, but when she opened up this topic for debate on a national scale she placed herself in the figure-head spot of a movement that can't be stopped. It doesn't matter whether she meant she wants less vaccines or she wants no vaccines, she's just helped people get it into their heads that vaccines are bad and there's really no going back from that.
Due to celebrity endorsement of the anti-vaccination stance, record numbers of people are opting out of giving their kids shots, and now cases of whooping cough and measles are skyrocketing.
So McCarthy, you may not be anti-vaxx, but you've opened the door to a lot of people who hear "vaccinations" and "autism" in the same sentence and get scared. The movement has taken on a life of its own. If medical professionals can't convince people with evidence and science, no number of articles you write are going to convince people that you're anything but anti-vaxx. The damage has been done, and everyone is suffering because of it.
