# Jenny McCarthy is not the antivaccine antichrist **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 17, 2014, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jenny-mccarthy-is-not-the-antivaccine-antichrist/688624 "2014-05-17T04:32:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2014, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jenny-mccarthy-is-not-the-antivaccine-antichrist/688624/21 "2014-05-17T14:06:09Z")
Children develop something like a million antibodies _a day_ - Jenny McCarthy is completely full of shit, and she needs to never say anything in a public forum ever again. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2014, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jenny-mccarthy-is-not-the-antivaccine-antichrist/688624/22 "2014-05-17T15:36:58Z")
At least some parents want vaccinations spread out. My DIL who is a GP will honor such requests because it means the kids do eventually get vaccinated. So the distinction between her and Wakefield (whom I would jail) is still worth making. ---
**Author:** ![Erdosain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/erdosain/32/7284_2.png) [@Erdosain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Erdosain)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2014, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jenny-mccarthy-is-not-the-antivaccine-antichrist/688624/23 "2014-05-17T15:43:00Z")
> [@monstro](#): > > I don’t care enough about JM to quibble with your other points, but this strikes me as…wrong. It is true that we haven’t cured autism spectrum disorders yet (though there some people who have shed their diagnosis later in life, whether it be because of early intervention, misdiagnosis or something else.) But I am uncomfortable with the idea notion that _anything_ is “incurable”. A cure may not come in a magic pill. It may come in brain stimulation or something other kind of treatment. Despite what you may believe, it may indeed come with a prescriptive diet for some as researchers continue explore the inflammation/auto-immune disorder angle. It likely will not be a one-size-fits-all thing, but nothing ever is. Neuroscience is still quite young. Please give it more some time. Right, it may be curable _in the future_. McCarthy is telling people they can cure it NOW and that, in fact, she has already cured her child of autism. This is incredibly dangerous and false. I’m all for giving people the benefit of the doubt, but McCarthy’s words and actions over a long period of time have demonstrated repeatedly that she deserves no such consideration. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2014, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jenny-mccarthy-is-not-the-antivaccine-antichrist/688624/24 "2014-05-17T15:48:17Z")
> [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > At least some parents want vaccinations spread out. My DIL who is a GP will honor such requests because it means the kids do eventually get vaccinated. So the distinction between her and Wakefield (whom I would jail) is still worth making. That attitude is new for her and she hasn’t recanted her earlier statements that vaccines caused her child’s autism. Indulging someone who wants to spread out vaccines (for no medical reason) in one thing. Advocating for it because the current vaccine schedule is _dangerous_ is another. ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2014, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jenny-mccarthy-is-not-the-antivaccine-antichrist/688624/25 "2014-05-17T18:04:51Z")
Q: What if she was actually a nice person who genuinely was misquoted and wanted to step away from the issue & move on with her life? What if she had a new guy & wanted it to work out without the added tide-waves of stress? A: I’d be a real ass not to say. “Congratulations, Jenny. Hope this works well for the both of you! Best wishes…” PS- Just promise me you won’t drag Mark Wahlberg onto the “It’s a Small World” ride… ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2014, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jenny-mccarthy-is-not-the-antivaccine-antichrist/688624/26 "2014-05-17T18:27:19Z")
It’s disappointing to see **psychobunny** 1) creating a strawman about criticism of McCarthy as an antivaxer, and 2) in effect supporting her attempts to rewrite history about her antivax activities. First of all, this: > [@psychobunny](#): > > Again, antivaxxers have taken her up as their champion and set her as an example of a mother who does not vaccinate-which is wrong and which she has not made enough effort to stop. What is wrong is the claim that McCarthy is cited as an example of a mother who does not vaccinate. In reality, she is characteristically cited (and quite accurately) as an example of a mother who falsely blames her son’s developmental problems (which apparently are not due to autism) on vaccines, and who heavily promotes antivax tropes (like claiming that vaccines do damage due to “toxins”\*\*\* that vaccines cause autism, and supporting that icon of bad ethics and bad research, Andrew Wakefield). Despite her lip service to “reducing the (vaccine) schedule” and calls to “green our vaccines”, McCarthy [has spread lies about immunization](http://scienceblogs.com/insolence/2014/04/14/jenny-mccarthy-thinks-in-shades-of-gray-or-so-she-thinks/) so persistently that it is clear her intention has been to scare parents away from them. So like it or not, she has become a heroine to antivaxers and a very public face of the antivax movement. For whatever reason (probably career-oriented), McCarthy has recently tried to downplay her antivax history, but her attempts to deceive the public through her recent op-ed in the Chicago Sun-Times haven’t gone unnoticed. "Here is what she writes in the op-ed: “People have the misconception that we want to eliminate vaccines,” I told Time magazine science editor Jeffrey Kluger in 2009. “Please understand that we are not an anti-vaccine group. We are demanding safe vaccines. We want to reduce the schedule and reduce the toxins.” But Kluger points out that she left the last line out of that quotation. Here’s the whole thing: “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–king measles.” “Huh. That last line rather changes the tone of her position considerably, wouldn’t you agree? That’s a difficult stance to square with someone who is not anti-vaccine.” > **[Yes, Jenny McCarthy, You Are Anti-Vaccine](https://slate.com/technology/2014/04/jenny-mccarthy-responds-to-claims-shes-not-anti-vax.html)** > > Jenny McCarthy is claiming she is not anti-vaccine. McCarthy is not an injured innocent. She brought her reputation on herself. \*\*\*this from a person who raves about the wonders of Botox and is a spokesperson for e-cigarettes. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2014, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jenny-mccarthy-is-not-the-antivaccine-antichrist/688624/27 "2014-05-17T18:34:04Z")
“Demanding safe vaccines” is a direct indictment that current vaccines are not safe. That is a dangerous lie. They’re her words and she is not being misrepresented. You’re spot on. ---
**Author:** ![joyfool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@joyfool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joyfool)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2014, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jenny-mccarthy-is-not-the-antivaccine-antichrist/688624/28 "2014-05-17T18:48:25Z")
Also, if you aren’t what others purport you to be, you stand up and set the story straight. That is if you care about what you’re peddling and not just making a buck. ---
**Author:** ![LavenderBlue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e95f7d/32.png) [@LavenderBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LavenderBlue)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2014, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jenny-mccarthy-is-not-the-antivaccine-antichrist/688624/29 "2014-05-17T18:50:25Z")
Like most parents, I am an ordinary person with no particular science background. What parent like myself would listen to her and agree to vaccinate their children? I remember one night when my youngest was a small baby and was about to get some shots the next day. I googled the hib vaccine and a whole slew of anti-vax websites came up including hers. And for about five minutes I thought to myself “I can’t possibly do this shit to my poor child!” How is deliberately choosing to make parenting even harder ever an excusable act? ---
**Author:** ![LavenderBlue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e95f7d/32.png) [@LavenderBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LavenderBlue)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2014, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jenny-mccarthy-is-not-the-antivaccine-antichrist/688624/30 "2014-05-17T19:07:16Z")
> [@psychobunny](#): > > She has rather consistently blamed her child’s autism on getting too many vaccines at once and suggests giving the vaccines but spreading them out more in time as well as removing thiomerosol etc… FYI, this is shitty science and she should apologize for it. There is no medical benefit to delaying vaccines: > [@](#): > > [http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052748704113504575264421687548864?mg=reno64-wsj&url=http%3A%2F%2Fonline.wsj.com%2Farticle%2FSB10001424052748704113504575264421687548864.html](http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052748704113504575264421687548864?mg=reno64-wsj&url=http%3A%2F%2Fonline.wsj.com%2Farticle%2FSB10001424052748704113504575264421687548864.html) > > A new study, though, finds no benefit to a child’s development in delaying vaccines, and doctors warn that waiting can expose kids to possible disease. There’s also no reason not to give multiple vaccines at once. All you doing is giving your poor kid more needle sticks and actually increase your child’s exposure to some of the ingredients in vaccines as you have to give more of them when you give more individual vaccines. McCarthy’s a lying ass who deserves every bit of contempt she’s been given. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2014, 6:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jenny-mccarthy-is-not-the-antivaccine-antichrist/688624/31 "2014-05-18T06:32:49Z")
[Quackwatch takes on the idea that childhood immunizations are too heavy a load for a child’s immune system.](http://www.quackwatch.com/03HealthPromotion/immu/too_many.html) (That idea is complete and utter bunk, of course.) > [@](#): > > The currently recommended schedule—posted at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Web site calls for 5 live or weakened organisms and 21 different antigens by age 6. A few more are added from ages 7 to 18… > > The capacity of the immune system to respond to antigens is vast and far greater than most people realize. Experts estimate that humans can generate about 10 billion different antibodies [3] and that, due to exposures to germs and other foreign material, people make between 1 million and 100 million different antibodies during our lifetime [4]. The vaccine schedule produces a total of about 30 antibodies. It is also estimated that (a) each infant has the theoretical capacity to respond to about 10,000 vaccines at any one time and (b) if the 11 routinely recommended vaccines were administered together, the immune system would need to use only about 0.1% of its capacity to process them [5]. Did I mention that Jenny McCarthy is completely full of shit and needs to never speak in a public forum again? ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2014, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jenny-mccarthy-is-not-the-antivaccine-antichrist/688624/32 "2014-05-18T12:27:55Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > [Quackwatch takes on the idea that childhood immunizations are too heavy a load for a child’s immune system.](http://www.quackwatch.com/03HealthPromotion/immu/too_many.html) (That idea is complete and utter bunk, of course.) You know none of the people who currently don’t listen to knowledgeable (or even sane) people will listen to them. The idiots prefer to listen to anyone who condemns actual science as “just a theory” and to tarnish the people who are doing great work saving lives as “Big Pharma”. > [@](#): > > Did I mention that Jenny McCarthy is completely full of shit and needs to never speak in a public forum again? Sadly, that dishonest sack of crud now as a daily forum to spread her insanity. And, as ridiculous as this may seem, to fact that she’s “taking Barbara Walters’ seat” on that show will legitimize her stance in some folks’ minds. ABC could not have made a worse decision than this. ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2014, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jenny-mccarthy-is-not-the-antivaccine-antichrist/688624/33 "2014-05-18T14:41:34Z")
As sad an example as JM is, when did people start listening to health care advice, FOR THEIR CHILDREN, from former Playboy bunnies? To me that’s a way, way more disturbing thing than an airhead who thinks she cured her kid’s autism with food and vitamins! Barbara Walters should be deeply offended, I think. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2014, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jenny-mccarthy-is-not-the-antivaccine-antichrist/688624/34 "2014-05-18T15:48:05Z")
> [@even\_sven](#): > > I know it’s fun to make fun of a former playboy bunny, but it lowers us. > [@elbows](#): > > As sad an example as JM is, when did people start listening to health care advice, FOR THEIR CHILDREN, from former Playboy bunnies? Actually, Playmate[sup]TM[/sup] (Playmate of the Year, even!), not Bunny AFAIK. > [@Shodan](#): > > She has large breasts. Yeah, yeah, she gets nekkid real good. Got a talent for that. But that should be beside the argument. We should pay as much attention to child health care advice from sports all-stars, action movie leading men, up and coming political leaders, Purple Heart veterans, televangelists, billionaire software moguls, top charting teenage pop stars, posters on the SDMB, etc. IOW after hearing their piece follow up with a hearty _ **“Cite?”** _ Alas, we know that a large part of the population react not to scientific fact but to emotional tug. In that sense, to many members of the public the story of the sexy party gal (of whom there are nude pics to look at on the Intertubes) who becomes a crusading mother is too good to to NOT be true. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jenny-mccarthy-is-not-the-antivaccine-antichrist/688624.md?page=1)