Former Playboy model, Jenny McCarthy, pens op-ed: ‘I am not anti-vaccine’

Former playmate and current hostess of The View, Jenny McCarthy got the opportunity to “clarify” her thoughts on vaccines and autism Saturday in an Op-Ed published in the Chicago Sun-Times.

She comes right out the gate saying, “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.”

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There is a smidgen of truth in McCarthy’s claim. In a Q&A in Time almost exactly five years ago, McCarthy, while plugging a new vaccines cause autism book stated, “People have the misconception that we want to eliminate vaccines. Please understand that we are not an antivaccine group. We are demanding safe vaccines. We want to reduce the schedule and reduce the toxins. If you ask a parent of an autistic child if they want the measles or the autism, we will stand in line for the f___ing measles.

McCarthy has an 11-year-old son, Evan, who was diagnosed with autism in 2005. McCarthy has, in her own mind, linked the autism to the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine (MMR).

McCarthy is notorious for saying, “The idea that vaccines are a primary cause of autism is not as crackpot as some might wish. Autism’s 60-fold rise in 30 years matches a tripling of the U.S. vaccine schedule.” And it’s true that the CDC just reported that Autism spectrum disorder  now affects one in 68 children; however Jenny, could this increase in autism be due to a change in the disease definition and not the MMR?

Why is it that McCarthy, who has been so outspoken over this topic over the years, feels the need to pen this article? Could it be that the scientific community has over and over again shown their is no link? Maybe she just wants for people to not think she’s a kook? Maybe the unnecessary resurgence of whooping cough, measles, mumps and other vaccine preventable diseases has struck a chord with the former playmate?

McCarthy once said, “I do believe sadly it’s going to take some diseases coming back to realize that we need to change and develop vaccines that are safe.” Well Jenny, you got your wish.

There was an important article written by infectious disease expert, President of the non-profit Sabin Vaccine Institute and Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Dr. Peter Hotez two weeks ago. Hotez, who also an adult child with autism, wrote:

For me, the issue is completely straightforward.  From a scientific perspective, there is no scenario where it is even remotely possible that vaccines could cause autism. Instead everything I know both as a parent and as a scientist points to autism as a genetic or epigenetic condition.

A new paper just published in the New England Journal of Medicine by Eric Courchesne and his colleagues at the University of California, San Diego, confirms that the brains of children with autism have distinct patches of architectural disorganization in their prefrontal and temporal cortical tissue.  Because the organization of the cortex begins in the second trimester of pregnancy, Dr. Courchesne concludes that the events leading to the malformation of the cortex must begin around this time or perhaps before then, certainly well before a child is born or ever receives a vaccine.

Hotez concludes the piece, which is well worth the read, The results of not vaccinating your child can be devastating citing the following numbers– “worldwide 125,400 children died from measles in 2010, in addition to 81,400 from pertussis, 61,300 from tetanus, and almost one million from pneumococcal disease. We have safe and effective vaccines for each of these diseases and sadly, most of these deaths could have been prevented!

“So on this day I hope to continue to educate the public both about our safe and effective vaccines, while focusing national attention on autism where it belongs, namely the urgent need for research on the autism spectrum disorders.”

Ms. McCarthy, I am very sorry for the condition of your son. However, sadly and clearly your statements over the past several years, your TV appearances and books have done nothing but damage, and without an iota of evidence mind you.

The numbers don’t lie.