Anti-vaxxers are brining measles back

[Mr. Morden]

Mandatory vaccinations for kids, felonies for anti-vax parents. Period.

This. I feel the same way about mandatory sex and evolution education in schools.

You want mandatory sex in schools? 

[Bojack Horseman]

Mandatory vaccinations for kids, felonies for anti-vax parents. Period.

This. I feel the same way about mandatory sex and evolution education in schools.

You want mandatory sex in schools? 

I knew I was walking right into that one as soon as I hit post.

[SoLongAtlas]

Mandatory vaccinations for kids, felonies for anti-vax parents. Period.

This. I feel the same way about mandatory sex and evolution education in schools.

You want mandatory sex in schools? 

[100% pro-life no matter what]

I mostly associate anti-vaxxers with far-left Californian soccer moms, not anyone on the right.

[Gass3268]

I mostly associate anti-vaxxers with far-left Californian soccer moms, not anyone on the right.

They're out there. My ex-sister in law's family was a Jesus will save us from everything types.

[7,052,770]

I mostly associate anti-vaxxers with far-left Californian soccer moms, not anyone on the right.

Well OK, but I think you must have some cognitive dissonance going on because the GD president of the United States (a Republican) is a whole lot more prominent than some rando hypothetical soccer mom.

[KingSweden]

I don't understand why suddenly people think vaccines cause diseases like autism. Many medical experts have said otherwise.

Because big pharma totes paid off the medical experts, dude! Wake up sheeple!

Or, put more bluntly, because people are idiots

I wouldn't go so far as to say "people are idiots" as the reason. I think the two biggest components of anti-vaxxerism is that autism tends to become diagnosable around the same time kids start to get most of their vaccines. It's only human to notice patterns where their are none. Second is that people who are model parents in every way suddenly have a kid who is autistic. The natural reaction is to think "but I've been a good parent, fed them, clothed them, loved them, got them all of their shots, this must be someone else's fault!"

Fair, though I personally have a hard time believing that the rise in autism diagnoses are anything more than the medical and psychiatric professionals understanding the spectrum in a way we didn't before. I think there were a LOt of undiagnosed autism cases in the past

[Adam Griffin]

Yeah, the anti-vax sentiment most definitely started on the left and really picked up steam during the Bush years, but I'd say that it's pretty much a 50/50 split ideologically in the present day.

And as somebody already pointed out in some detail, correlation/causation plays a huge role here. There's arguably more developmental change between the ages of 2-5 than at any other point in a human's life. The same kinds of behavior that are thought to be cute and harmless at age 2 will be considered weird and anti-social by age 5. Autism generally becomes something that can be diagnosed around the time that kids start interacting with a large number of others outside the home and it's at this point that a lack of development in select areas becomes painfully obvious. Many children (and parents) have no frame of reference prior to this occurring.

[darklordoftech]

I mostly associate anti-vaxxers with far-left Californian soccer moms, not anyone on the right.

Although I think far-left Californian soccer moms are responsible for the majority of helicopter parenting, anti-vaxxers seem to often be the people who homeschool and think that public schools are trying to convert their students to Islam. Nonetheless, I think that the anti-vaxxer movement is a consequence of decades of "think of the children" movements that were often pushed by doctors, schools, scientists, etc.