View co-host Jenny McCarthy is now attempting to backtrack on her anti-vaccine conspiracy theories. The former Playboy model has repeatedly promoted the danger of vaccines and asserted, despite a total lack of evidence, that they can cause autism. In an op-ed for the Chicago Sun Times on Sunday, she proclaimed, "I am not 'anti-vaccine.' This is not a change in my stance nor is it a new position that I have recently adopted."
However, in 2009, she claimed of her own son's condition: "Without a doubt in my mind, I believe that vaccinations triggered Evan's autism." She is also on record as saying, "So, you ask any mother in the autism community if we'll take the flu, the measles over autism any frickin' day of the week -- So, I think they [pro-vaccine doctors] need to wake up and stop hurting our kids." As noted by the National Geographic in 2013, "In April, researchers published a study that looked at nearly 1,000 children and concluded that exposure to vaccines during the first two years of life was not associated with an increased risk of developing autism."
In 2001, a panel of 15 experts from the Institute of Medicine, which advises Congress, found no connection between the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine and autism. In 2004, a comprehensive review by the Institute of Medicine found no causal relationship between vaccines and autism.
The Center for Disease Control concluded:
Because some parents have chosen to either not vaccinate their children at all or to not follow the recommended CDC childhood vaccination schedule, the CDC Immunization Safety Office conducted a study that compared the vaccination history of children with autism spectrum disorder with children without. The central idea behind the study was if receiving multiple vaccines on the same date raises the risk of autism, then children who received more vaccines early in life or on a single day should show a higher risk of autism.
The sample population was 1008 children, 256 of whom had a diagnosis placing them on the autism spectrum, and 752 of these children were not on the autism spectrum. The researchers used the vaccination records of the children to determine the amount of antigens to which the children had been exposed. Then, the children were subdivided into groups based on the amount of antigen received from birth to three months, birth to seven months, and birth to two years old.
After analyzing the data, CDC scientists determined that the amount of antigens received over any of the time periods was not linked to the child’s risk of developing autism. Exposure to multiple vaccines on the same day also had no link to the development of autism disorders. Finally, the researchers looked at vaccination history and whether the child developed regressive autism, and, again, no link was found. The study data and results were published in the April 1, 2013, issue of the Journal Pediatrics.
Yet, in her op-ed McCarthy spun:
My beautiful son, Evan, inspired this mother to question the “one size fits all” philosophy of the recommended vaccine schedule. I embarked on this quest not only for myself and my family, but for countless parents who shared my desire for knowledge that could lead to options and alternate schedules, but never to eliminate the vaccines.
I believe in the importance of a vaccine program and I believe parents have the right to choose one poke per visit. I’ve never told anyone to not vaccinate.
This is the same person who panicked Americans by insisting: "People are also dying from vaccinations." What conclusion are people to make from that?
In July of 2013, veteran journalist and View co-host/co-creator Barbara Walters gushed over the newly-hired McCarthy: "She can be serious and outrageous. She has connected with our audience and offers a fresh point of view. Jenny will be a great addition to the show as we usher in an exciting new chapter for The View."
Walters picked McCarthy, despite well-known views. Clearly, she doesn't have a problem with conspiracy theories. This is the woman who hired 9/11 truther Rosie O'Donnell. Liberals often mock conservatives as anti-science. What does it say about a prominent ABC News journalist like Walters that she has now picked two anti-science conspiracy theorists?
