I find aspects of your comment troubling. The continued reliance on Bernadine Healy for instance. Why would you try and bolster your position by quoting a woman who was/is a paid shill for Philip Morris?

The statement that there is science to support the idea vaccines cause/contribute to autism is equally troubling, given that there is none. Maybe I am wrong – could you maybe cite the science you have in mind?

Like Sullivan, I don’t have any issue with the word ‘parasite’. Ensuring one’s child benefits from herd immunity whilst refusing to contribute to it seems an almost textbook definition of parasitic behaviour to me. I don’t think it was meant as an insult, merely as an accurate description of behaviour. If people choose to interpret it as an insult, that would be their issue.

People are gaining a benefit from society—herd immunity—without contributing to building that same benefit.

Certainly there are people who should not be vaccinated. There is a regular poster to this blog with just such a child. Those are the people we need to protect with herd immunity.

But people who avoid vaccines due to the idea that they cause autism are not in the same league at all.

Now, as to who started the name calling….hmmm, she talked to Dr. Paul Offit. Surely one might conclude that there has been name calling pointed at him since before Amanda Peet came forward?

If I need to remind myself of just how ugly the language can get in this discussion, I can always find an example with one of the blogs that supports the idea that autism and vaccines are linked.

...or the fact that she has not stated that she has done other research besides her sole contact of Dr. Offit.

That’s a ‘fact’? And you know this how? How about the fact that she says she was getting scared by what she heard about vaccines? Doesn’t that mean that she looked into both sides of this? What about the fact that her brother in law (also a medical doctor) also gave her advice?

Just because someone came to the conclusion that the vaccine/autism concept isn’t valid doesn’t mean they didn’t consider both sides.

It’s extremely rare to see the same old arguements put forth with civility rather than crimson-faced diatribe.

Well done.

I do believe that there is some form of link with autism and vaccines based upon research – as for my children, i used to live by the mandated schedule but now I have my own because unfortunately in my state, if it is not a religious reason, children must be vaccinated in order to attend school and to get a waiver is nearly impossible so I choose to delay the vaccinations.

I just wish that there was some form of making them cleaner and actually healthier.

Did you hear that in Argentina Glaxo is conducting vaccine trials in which 15 infants have already died? There are so many adverse affects and before anyone choses to do anything medically to their children – they must do their research – it is their responsibility as parents.

I am not stating that she does not want to make a difference – I just think that the words she used were wrong. I am glad that people are starting to voice opinions and that there is a debate going on because debates lead to investigations which lead to research which lead to answers.

I just think that everyone in this battle deserves some respect because we are all trying to make a difference in our own ways based upon our own research. We need to unite and work together and not fight about it all.

There is not only one reason for autism just as there is not one reason for cancer, or aids, or epilepsy, etc.

There are environmental, genetic, social, factors in all of these disorders and illnesses. But these individuals are not fighting eachother like the autism community is.

Heck – in my family there was no link to breast cancer until my aunt got breast cancer from a chemical she was exposed to when she was younger – so am I going to fight those that have genetic links to breast cancer because an outside factor contributed to the cancer of my aunt as this is the only possible link to cancer? No!! There are many possible reasons for cancer just as there are for autism.

I applaud Ms. Peet for coming forward but I do not agree with the choice of words she has used or the fact that she has not stated that she has done other research besides her sole contact of Dr. Offit.

I would just like to see her offer a more well-rounded opinion on the subject, not just one from one source.

As far as Ms. Peet’s comments – I do not agree with the fact that she called some parents parasites. These are the same people who would pay to see her movies and buy the DVD’s afterwards. She is placing herself in the limelight in a negative light attacking people without real investigation as to vaccines except from one source.

Which brings up an interesting comparison. Amanda Peet is actually risking losing money by stepping forward. She did this right before the opening of a big budget movie.

Consider if events were switched. Consider if Amanda Peet did this as a part of a book tour, where her book that she would profit from discussed vaccines.

Some people would be even more angered.

The fact that she would step forward gives some credibility to her message. It looks like she is doing this because she wants to make a difference in the world.

I prefer to spread apart the vaccines for my children, not because I
think that they cause autism, because in my case 5 children with
autism seems to be more of a genetic link than a vaccine link. I
choose my vaccination stance on the fact that there are so many
vaccines being given to children so quickly and many do contain
ingredients that I never thought would be placed into the body of a
child.

Everyone has the right to their opinions and I do not think that we
should be fighting eachother on what we think causes autism or not
because everyone is going to have their own opinion. Instead of trying
to fight the world for things that we do not have 100% proof of, we
need to fight to get the better education and services our children
need.

As far as Ms. Peet’s comments – I do not agree with the fact that she
called some parents parasites. These are the same people who would pay
to see her movies and buy the DVD’s afterwards. She is placing herself
in the limelight in a negative light attacking people without real
investigation as to vaccines except from one source.

I did my homeowrk first and I know vaccines are important so I do give
them to my children – I just decided to spread them apart so that
there is not so much going into their bodies at a time.

We are all fighting for one cause – the futures of our children – the
least we can do is be respectful of eachother.