In The Politics of Autism, I analyze the myth that vaccines cause autism. This bogus idea can hurt people by allowing diseases to spread. Examples include measles, COVID, flu, and polio.
A number of posts discussed Trump's support for the discredited notion.
Another leading anti-vaxxer is presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. He has repeatedly compared vaccine mandates to the Holocaust. Rolling Stone and Salon retracted an RFK article linking vaccines to autism. He is part of the "Disinformation Dozen." He helped cause a deadly 2019 measles outbreak in Samoa.
The Association of Immunization Managers, a national organization of state and local immunization officials, is tracking 545 vaccine-related bills in state legislatures around the country, 180 more than last year — evidence, the group’s leaders say, that Mr. Kennedy is changing the national conversation. After peaking at the height of the coronavirus pandemic, the number of vaccine-related bills had come down in recent years.
But the big fear of public health leaders that began during the pandemic, and accelerated with Mr. Kennedy’s political rise — that states will undo school vaccine mandates — has so far not come to pass.
“For the 10 years that Texans for Vaccine Choice has existed, we have had a federal government that has been wholly irrelevant or working against us,” said [Rebecca] Hardy, the group’s president. “We’re excited about having individuals in the federal government who will actually cooperate with us. But what exactly that means, we don’t know.”...
As health secretary, Mr. Kennedy has broken with his predecessors by refusing to advocate for vaccination. In response to the measles outbreak, he acknowledged that vaccines “do prevent infection,” but cast the decision to vaccinate as a personal one. Testifying before Congress last week, he refused to say whether, if he were a new parent, he would vaccinate his children against measles, polio or chickenpox.
“I don’t want to seem like I’m being evasive,” Mr. Kennedy said, “but I don’t think people should be taking medical advice from me.”
With vaccination rates already dropping, public health experts say it may not matter whether bills eroding vaccine mandates become law; all states already offer either religious or philosophical exemptions to school vaccine requirements. But the vocal activism surrounding the bills is encouraging more parents to seek those exemptions, experts say.
As of May 15, 2025, a total of 1,024 confirmed* measles cases were reported by 31 jurisdictions: Alaska, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York City, New York State, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, and Washington.
here have been 14 outbreaks** (defined as 3 or more related cases) reported in 2025, and 92% of confirmed cases (947 of 1,024) are outbreak-associated. For comparison, 16 outbreaks were reported during 2024 and 69% of cases (198 of 285) were outbreak-associated.
