The link is from the babystuff subsection of the Sydney Morning Herald, a relatively quality paper in Australia. (OK, be picky - less awful)
I suggest you read the link before you get your dander up 
A few months ago the same paper said it would no longer accept Letters to the Editor claiming anthropogenic global warming was a myth. The link in Askance’s skin cancer thread is from the same paper.
Warms the cockles of my skeptical little heart, it does!
Sadly, people who already believe that crap about vaccines are unlikely to be swayed by articles such as this. Not that I’m not happy to see stuff like this, and hopefully some (idiot) on the fence will read it and change their mind, but ignorance is really, really hard to fight, and the ignorance about vaccines is seriously entrenched.
Glad you posted the linked article though! 
The original link that I saw was on the load screen of the online version, with the “Parents you are being lied to about vaccines” tagline, and no hint of the kicker. After reading, I thought it had a decent chance of attracting anti-vaxxers and maybe getting through to some of the less devoted ones. So well done, that paper.
They’ve now started campaigns where celebrities are endorsing vaccines and telling people they’re safe. It’s probably an effective idea as far as convincing people to get their children vaccinated but it’s a sad commentary on society that celebrity endorsements are needed to convince people of a scientific truth.
That original post by Jennifer Raff (“Dear Parents, You Are Being Lied To”) seems to be getting a lot of circulation.
Here it is on HuffPo.
Here is the original post.
A quick Google search turns up many more. This post is making the rounds.
Anti-vaxism seems to be getting very trendy among the upscale New-Agey types.
Here’s an article on Slate about anti-vaxism in Marin County: Meet the Anti-Vaccination Pediatrician Catering to California’s Rich, New Age-y Parents.
And I’m seeing other articles pointing out similar findings in other upscale places like Malibu.
What’s with rich people hating vaccines? (Salon, Aug. 2013).
The thing I really don’t get about anti-vaccers is why they still use the argument of “big pharma is trying to trick us” in countries where healthcare is free at the point of delivery.
So you have two people, both saying they’ll deal with the same thing, but in totally opposed ways. One asks you for money, the other does not, and says it’s already paid for via your taxes and your immediate response is that the one not asking for money is not obviously the one trying to scam you?!
I really don’t get it.
I hadn’t heard of author Jennifer Raff before, but it sure seems like she is one of the Good Guys. Personally, I feel taking a hard line might not convince some people, but it’s the proper way to approach the subject when facts are on your side and there is so much at stake.
If I were a big parma company I would work very hard to encourage the general public to use my products. It wouldn’t matter to me if it was the government or the patient that paid for them. Either way, I get paid.
Not that I’m an anti-vaccer. But maybe I’m misunderstanding your argument.
The really sad part is that a quick look at the news will show a marked increase in outbreaks of measles and mumps thanks to parents who mistakenly think that the vaccine is the problem. Too bad their precious darlings are now contributing to the outbreaks we are seeing in Canada, particularly in areas where vaccination is the lowest, even among older patients that have had vaccinations. I wonder how these same parents would feel if they were to get it and have to suffer through it, which is apparently worse than as a child, or get meningitis (one of the possible complications).
If I were big Pharma, I would encourage anti-vaxxers. It has to be more profitable for them to encourage diseases that require a course of drugs than a one-shot vaccination. Vaccine-making is one of the few things the drug companies that is really hardly worth their effort.
The article linked in the OP is beautiful.
What I dont get is when I was a kid getting the mumps, measles, and chicken pox was just part of growing up.
Now dont get me wrong my kids are vaccinated per law. My beef is with the way they are administered and the schedule.
My son, who has severe autism, was vaccinated the second day of his life. I dont care what the doctors say, it is wrong to be pumping chemicals into a child barely a day old before their bodies have a chance to add a few pounds, before brain tissue is fully developed, and before their immune system has a chance to start up.
We waited awhile for our second son to get his first vaccinations and he does not have autism. I dont think it is a coincidence.
This is what’s known as “Part of the Problem”.
Perhaps you don’t know what “coincidence” means.
Why? I told you our kids did get their vaccinations.
I know someone whose adopted son is autistic. Because he was adopted right from birth, there was some confusion over insurance coverage, and whether to give him vaccines in the hospital. He didn’t get any vaccines until he was a month old (when his parents realized he didn’t get the ones he was supposed to get in the hospital). Still autistic.
My anecdote cancels out your anecdote.
I worked with autistic people for years, including many adults who did not get the newborn vaccines because they didn’t exist yet. I’m sorry you have to deal with this, but it’s not because of the vaccine.
Why? Of course the “part of the problem” is the utter BS you posted: you don’t care what the actual doctors have to say & you don’t think something’s a coincidence. You have no actual evidence for the latter and, of course, you’ve already dismissed those who do have evidence for their stance in the former.
That’s why I made the comment, “part of the problem”.
Oh, another thing. The doctors–you know, the folks who know what the heck medicine is–have determined a vaccination schedule for a reason. I’d be stunned if that reason were “to avoid something Urbanredneck thinks is not a coincidence”.
I’d be even more startled if it were “To maximize cases of autism.”
Like you, Monty, my hackles are up any time I hear, essentially, “My kids are vaccinated, but…” unless the “but” is followed by “the doctor recommended…”
FWIW, I actually know someone who got an award for a vaccine injury (you work with disabled people for a living, it happens), and her symptoms are NOTHING like autism.
My daughter was vaccinated late due to us moving doctors and not knowing what the vaccination schedule was (I relied on the doctors to notify me, and they did so, but late). She has autism.
You can see how difficult it is to educate people who refuse to be educated.