# Which party supports anti-vaxxing? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [February 25, 2019, 11:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-party-supports-anti-vaxxing/830171 "2019-02-25T11:31:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![MichaelEmouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/michaelemouse/32/101_2.png) [@MichaelEmouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MichaelEmouse)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2019, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-party-supports-anti-vaxxing/830171/21 "2019-02-25T15:44:23Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > As a practice we engage with anti-vax parents respectfully, listening to their concerns, addressing them, and explaining about how their choice has impacts on others as well. I explain\* the real conspiracy\* between Wakefield and some lawyers to make money based on his faked data and how kids died as a result. We have some track record of bringing _some_ around, at least to the most important ones (and yes some vaccines are more important than others). When it happens it usually takes a few visits. Many practices have moved to dismissal instead (which brings none into the immunized fold and concentrates refusers/delayers together, exactly what we do not want to happen as that increases the risks for all). > > Still I think Right or Left the decision to not vaccinate is whackadoodle. It is very frustrating to spend so much time combatting whackadoodle. But again it is not exclusively a Right or Left domain. Since you’re professional dealings with many of them, did you pick up any patterns among them? Is it random or are there good (if imperfect) predictors of whether or not someone is anti-vaxx? ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2019, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-party-supports-anti-vaxxing/830171/22 "2019-02-25T15:49:43Z")
It’s not a straight right-left issue. On the one side you’ve got “nobody’s gonna tell me what to do” righties. And on the other side you’ve got nature-harmony lefties. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2019, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-party-supports-anti-vaxxing/830171/23 "2019-02-25T15:50:33Z")
And [Trump](https://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/promises/trumpometer/promise/1389/change-vaccination-schedule-children/) did in fact throw support to the anti-vax side. > [@](#): > > Before and during his campaign, President Donald Trump repeatedly linked vaccines to autism, despite the fact that the claim has been debunked. > > At a 2015 Republican presidential candidate debate, CNN anchor Jake Tapper asked Trump how, if elected, he would handle overseeing the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institute of Health, which both disagree with his stance on vaccinations. > > Trump responded: “Autism has become an epidemic… I am totally in favor of vaccines. But I want smaller doses over a longer period of time.” After all [some people have told him](https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-anti-vaxxer-bill-gates-said-president-asked-him-if-vaccines-934172) … > [@](#): > > Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates said President Donald Trump told him he was considering a commission to look into the “bad effects” of vaccines. “Don’t do that,” Gates said he told the president, and Trump has never publicly proposed such a commission. Yet the incident recalls Trump’s longtime skeptical comments about vaccines. > > Gates said that in two separate meetings since he was elected, Trump asked the billionaire philanthropist if “vaccines weren’t a bad thing.” > > “He was considering a commission to look into the bad effects of vaccines and somebody, I think his name was Robert Kennedy Jr., was advising him that vaccines were causing bad things,” Gates recalled. “And I said ‘No, that’s a dead end, that would be a bad thing, don’t do that.” Yeah the “some people” was of the D side, but not of real power while Trump to no small degree is the GOP now. **MichaelEMouse** really no. At least not that I can determine. They’ve “heard things” or “researched” on the internet or “know someone who” had some bad thing happen soon after they were immunized. Fewer out and out refusers in recent years and more doing stupid alternative schedules that delay protection based on an idiotic recommendation out there by someone who actually even has an MD. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2019, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-party-supports-anti-vaxxing/830171/24 "2019-02-25T16:58:58Z")
From what I’ve observed, anti-vaxxers are slightly more likely to be conservative, however, there are also a considerable number of anti-vaxxers who are the anti-GMO, green, hippie type as well. And then there are anti-vaxxers who simply are Moon landing and Nevada-aliens-in-hangars or Flat-Earther types - people who aren’t so much liberal or conservative as they are simply deniers of reality. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2019, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-party-supports-anti-vaxxing/830171/25 "2019-02-25T17:11:47Z")
I do think \*\*MichaelEMouse \*\*is on to something about the gender divide. Overwhelmingly, it seems that anti-vaxxers are women and not men. ---
**Author:** ![MandaJo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac91a4/32.png) [@MandaJo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MandaJo)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2019, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-party-supports-anti-vaxxing/830171/26 "2019-02-25T18:34:45Z")
> [@RitterSport](#): > > This seems to be one of the first posts that actually addresses the title of the OP. The OP title doesn’t ask whether it’s a left or right thing, but rather which _party_ supports anti-vaxxing. While it wouldn’t be accurate to say that the national GOP is anti-vax, it seems like some of their local chapters are, including the large and powerful Texas GOP. Is there anything similar on the Democratic side? > > It’s true that it’s a pretty fringe belief – far right and far left, but only the GOP seems to put these far fringe nutters into power. Though, to be fair, what goes into actual party platform is notoriously more extreme than anything the rank and file believe. There’s a long and storied tradition (on both sides) of letting the loonies put crazy stuff in the platform and then ignoring it. ---
**Author:** ![HelenGawn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a88e4f/32.png) [@HelenGawn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HelenGawn)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2019, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-party-supports-anti-vaxxing/830171/27 "2019-02-25T20:47:06Z")
Political parties play to their bases. While anti-vaxxers tend to be liberal, as demonstrated in this [PBS Frontline episode,](https://www.pbs.org/video/frontline-a-visit-to-ashland-oregon/) the pro-science majority of Democrats would oppose anti-vaxx candidates. The Republicans opposed to vaccination for reasons of woo, government distrust, or religion may be few, but throwing them a bone wrapped in extreme rhetoric, and they’ll turn out in droves. Most Republicans are more committed to the right’s agenda as a whole than to the greater good. ---
**Author:** ![WillFarnaby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/willfarnaby/32/514_2.png) [@WillFarnaby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WillFarnaby)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2019, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-party-supports-anti-vaxxing/830171/28 "2019-02-25T21:39:20Z")
> [@Steve\_MB](#): > > Well, let’s make it a choice: vaccinate, or have a wall built around you to protect society. That is an extreme position. Not likely to gain a foothold in any party. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2019, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-party-supports-anti-vaxxing/830171/29 "2019-02-25T21:40:24Z")
> [@WillFarnaby](#): > > That is an extreme position. Not likely to gain a foothold in any party. Now you’re just fuckin with us. ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2019, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-party-supports-anti-vaxxing/830171/30 "2019-02-25T22:42:37Z")
> [@MandaJo](#): > > Though, to be fair, what goes into actual party platform is notoriously more extreme than anything the rank and file believe. There’s a long and storied tradition (on both sides) of letting the loonies put crazy stuff in the platform and then ignoring it. To be even more fair, though, the head of the Republican Party, the President of the United States, has made some anti-vax statements. While he hasn’t gone full anti-vax lately, stretching out the vaccine schedule is anti-science bullshit and plays into the hands of anti-vaxxers. Also, this: [Trump claims vaccines and autism are linked but his own experts vehemently disagree | The Independent | The Independent](https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/trump-vaccines-autism-links-anti-vaxxer-us-president-false-vaccine-a8331836.html) And, this: [https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/449525268529815552?lang=en](https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/449525268529815552?lang=en) So, actually, he is pretty anti-vax. I’m pro-nuclear power myself, but resistance to that is nowhere near as anti-science as global warming denial, anti-vax, or anti-evolution positions. There really are health and safety concerns with nuclear power (which, of course, can be addressed and contained). There really is no comparison between Democrats and Republicans when it comes to anti-science positions. And, I don’t think the Dems have put anti-nuke into their actual position statements (although I haven’t researched it much). The left has its share of kooks and crazies. So does the right. But, I just don’t see the parties as being as equally kooky and crazy, especially when it comes to science issues. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2019, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-party-supports-anti-vaxxing/830171/31 "2019-02-26T01:25:24Z")
**MichaelEMouse** , the 19th century called; it wants its misogyny back. But what would I know, I’m just an emotional woman with a pretty little head. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![MichaelEmouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/michaelemouse/32/101_2.png) [@MichaelEmouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MichaelEmouse)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2019, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-party-supports-anti-vaxxing/830171/32 "2019-02-26T01:39:24Z")
> [@Johanna](#): > > **MichaelEMouse** , the 19th century called; it wants its misogyny back. I never said that all or even most women are like that. Note the part where I specifically say that some flaws are more likely to be found in men. Do you agree that there are flaws or cognitive biases more commonly found in men? If so, could there not be some flaws more commonly found in women, for example those related to anxiety and overprotectiveness? It doesn’t need to be most women who are like that to end up with a disproportionate number of women in the anti-vaxx movement. If you have alternative explanations for why the anti-vaxx movement is mainly female than the ones I named, I’d like to hear. I thought it was pertinent in a discussion of party position on vaccinations because women tend to vote Democrat and men Republican and that may explain part of the association between Dems and the anti-vaxx movement. > [@Johanna](#): > > But what would I know, I’m just an emotional woman with a pretty little head. At least there’s something on which we can agree on an individual basis. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2019, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-party-supports-anti-vaxxing/830171/33 "2019-02-26T02:09:13Z")
> [@MichaelEmouse](#): > > … If you have alternative explanations for why the anti-vaxx movement is mainly female than the ones I named, I’d like to hear. … One, not so sure it is. Leadership isn’t anyway. Two, it’s mostly parents out there advocating for and against immunizations and more who say yes than no, but more _of both_ who are women than men. Pro-vaxx is mostly women too. This is our society and the role expectations. Women take on the main decision making role for the family (and not just for the kids, but for their partners as well) and men fairly commonly defer. So women will be over-represented among those saying no … and among those saying yes. The role bit can be silly. Years back a couple came in with their baby for maybe a six month check. Dad was the stay at home and mom was high powered working long hours. She still insisted on being the one to ask and answer the questions even if she had to ask Dad for the information. He, the one who was most familiar with how the kid ate, napped, pooped, and played, sat quietly feeding her information as she requested it from him so she could be “the mother” running the child’s show. Still today Dads fairly commonly defer. ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2019, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-party-supports-anti-vaxxing/830171/34 "2019-02-26T02:09:50Z")
> [@MichaelEmouse](#): > > … > > If you have alternative explanations for why the anti-vaxx movement is mainly female than the ones I named, I’d like to hear. I thought it was pertinent in a discussion of party position on vaccinations because women tend to vote Democrat and men Republican and that may explain part of the association between Dems and the anti-vaxx movement. … Sorry to interrupt your incorrect gender assumptions, but this says that 56% of men and 44% of women are anti-vax: > **[The average anti-vaxxer is a liberal, middle-aged Midwestern man](https://qz.com/355398/the-average-anti-vaxxer-is-probably-not-who-you-think-she-is)** > > Meet your average American anti-vaxxer. Also, just to shut my own mouth, 60% self-describe as liberal (although in my defense, the article also says that “Republicans have been more open to legitimizing the positions of people who distrust vaccines…”). So, it’s probably fair to say that anti-vaxxers tend (\>50%) to be liberals supported by Republicans, as weird as that seems. ---
**Author:** ![MichaelEmouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/michaelemouse/32/101_2.png) [@MichaelEmouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MichaelEmouse)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2019, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-party-supports-anti-vaxxing/830171/35 "2019-02-26T02:24:11Z")
> [@RitterSport](#): > > Sorry to interrupt your incorrect gender assumptions, but this says that 56% of men and 44% of women are anti-vax: > > [The average anti-vaxxer is probably not who you think she is](https://qz.com/355398/the-average-anti-vaxxer-is-probably-not-who-you-think-she-is/) > > Also, just to shut my own mouth, 60% self-describe as liberal (although in my defense, the article also says that “Republicans have been more open to legitimizing the positions of people who distrust vaccines…”). > > So, it’s probably fair to say that anti-vaxxers tend (\>50%) to be liberals supported by Republicans, as weird as that seems. Thanks you for the correction. I presumed the anti-vaxx movement was mainly composed of mothers of young children, which would put most in-between 25 and 40, who tend to heavily skew Democrat. I see that’s not the case, thanks for the data. ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2019, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-party-supports-anti-vaxxing/830171/36 "2019-02-26T02:26:53Z")
> [@MichaelEmouse](#): > > Thank you for the correction. I presumed the anti-vaxx movement was mainly composed of mothers of young children, which would put most in-between 25 and 40, who tend to heavily skew Democrat. I see that’s not the case, thanks for the data. You’re welcome! 🙂 As Felix Unger said, when you assume… uh, something about peppy and bursting with love. I may be confused on that point. ---
**Author:** ![MichaelEmouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/michaelemouse/32/101_2.png) [@MichaelEmouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MichaelEmouse)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2019, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-party-supports-anti-vaxxing/830171/37 "2019-02-26T02:49:19Z")
> [@RitterSport](#): > > [https://qz.com/355398/the-average-anti-vaxxer-is-probably-not-who-you-think-she-is/](https://qz.com/355398/the-average-anti-vaxxer-is-probably-not-who-you-think-she-is/) I am quite surprised that a group whose average member is (quoting the link): “A middle age, Midwestern man with high-school diploma, low income and a tendency not to think his vote matters much” would self-describe as liberal at a rate of 60%. > [@DSeid](#): > > One, not so sure it is. Leadership isn’t anyway. > > Two, it’s mostly parents out there advocating for and against immunizations and more who say yes than no, but more _of both_ who are women than men. Pro-vaxx is mostly women too. This is our society and the role expectations. Women take on the main decision making role for the family (and not just for the kids, but for their partners as well) and men fairly commonly defer. So women will be over-represented among those saying no … and among those saying yes. > > The role bit can be silly. Years back a couple came in with their baby for maybe a six month check. Dad was the stay at home and mom was high powered working long hours. She still insisted on being the one to ask and answer the questions even if she had to ask Dad for the information. He, the one who was most familiar with how the kid ate, napped, pooped, and played, sat quietly feeding her information as she requested it from him so she could be “the mother” running the child’s show. Still today Dads fairly commonly defer. Maybe we can make a distinction between people who are specifically anti-vaxx vs people who are suspicious of nearly everything, vaccines only being a small part of it. The former are likely to be identified as part of the anti-vaxx movement and actively support it whereas the latter may just be seen as a grouchy curmudgeon who just doesn’t get vaccinated and is largely not heard from on that topic unless you specifically ask him. ---
**Author:** ![KidCharlemagne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ed8c4c/32.png) [@KidCharlemagne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KidCharlemagne)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2019, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-party-supports-anti-vaxxing/830171/38 "2019-02-26T02:57:24Z")
> [@](#): > > In 2015, the Pew Research Center conducted a survey of 2 thousand adults which concluded about 12 percent of liberals and 10 percent of conservatives believed that childhood vaccines are unsafe. > > Since then, other studies have produced similar results, such as: > > University of Idaho > Yale University > Fordham University > Even the latest vaccine exemption data from the CDC reports neither political party is worse or better than the other. > **[Which Political Party Is Most Anti-Vaccine?](https://www.precisionvaccinations.com/childhood-vaccination-programs-should-be-exempt-political-bias)** > > Childhood Vaccination programs should be exempt from political bias ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2019, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-party-supports-anti-vaxxing/830171/39 "2019-02-26T03:51:54Z")
> [@RitterSport](#): > > Sorry to interrupt your incorrect gender assumptions, but this says that 56% of men and 44% of women are anti-vax: > > [The average anti-vaxxer is probably not who you think she is](https://qz.com/355398/the-average-anti-vaxxer-is-probably-not-who-you-think-she-is/) While I appreciate your fighting back against that nonsense, a quick flip for the stats: it’s not that 56% of men are anti-vax, it’s that 56% of anti-vaxxers are men. (I did a double-take when I saw what you’d written and went to the article to check). Important difference! 😃 Michael, if you can’t see the sexism in this passage you wrote, I dunno what to tell you: > [@MichaelEMouse](#): > > Imagine someone who’s kinda dim and scaredy to start with, someone with a hyperactive amygdala and hypoactive prefrontal cortex, gets pregnant and can’t really keep what little head she has with all the hormonal changes ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2019, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-party-supports-anti-vaxxing/830171/40 "2019-02-26T04:01:22Z")
> [@KidCharlemagne](#): > > [https://www.precisionvaccinations.com/childhood-vaccination-programs-should-be-exempt-political-bias](https://www.precisionvaccinations.com/childhood-vaccination-programs-should-be-exempt-political-bias) Huh. Following your link, it contains links to those other studies. The [Fordham University study](https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0158382) says: > [@](#): > > Results revealed that liberals were significantly more likely to endorse pro-vaccination statements and to regard them as “facts” (rather than “beliefs”), in comparison with moderates and conservatives. Whereas conservatives overestimated the proportion of like-minded others who agreed with them, liberals underestimated the proportion of others who agreed with them. That is, conservatives exhibited the “truly false consensus effect,” whereas liberals exhibited an “illusion of uniqueness” with respect to beliefs about vaccination. Conservative and moderate parents in this sample were less likely than liberals to report having fully vaccinated their children prior to the age of two. The Yale study abstract doesn’t contain a statement. The [University of Idaho study abstract](https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0191728) says this: > [@](#): > > Our findings demonstrate that ideology has a direct effect on vaccine attitudes. In particular, conservative respondents are less likely to express pro-vaccination beliefs than other individuals. The CDC data is really long, so I searched for “political,” “ideology,” “liberal,” “conservative,” “Republican,” and “Democrat”. None of those terms appeared in that data. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-party-supports-anti-vaxxing/830171.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-party-supports-anti-vaxxing/830171.md?page=3)