One of the things I hate about social media and media in general these days is the simplification of every argument into black-or-white, pro-or-con. It's polarized every political argument and social issue into two separate sides that never have any chance of meeting in the middle or achieving any kind of progress.
One of the hottest, most contested debates these days is regarding vaccines. I'll be honest. It drives me crazy to see posts or news articles by extremists on either side of the issue. They're always nasty, insulting and completely narrow-minded. Well, my opinion lies somewhere in the middle, much as Jenny McCarthy's explained her viewpoint today in the Chicago Sun-Times: http://www.suntimes.com/news/otherviews/26784527-452/jenny-mccarthy-the-gray-area-on-vaccines.html
Yes. I know. I might as well have cited an article written by Satan, given the way this woman's been vilified. She's not my favorite person -- I find her rather grating -- but I don't think she deserves the hate she's garnered, especially since a lot of it is born out of misinformation and false internet rumors.
I usually shy away from any political posts or anything remotely controversial. The level of ire it can stir just makes me uncomfortable and since it's mostly unproductive, I avoid it. Everyone's entitled to their opinions, but it can often get nasty and accusatory and I don't need the added stress in my life. That's why this is the one and only time I'll ever bring up my stance on vaccines. I just felt the need to advocate for something besides the black-and-white viewpoints. I support the "Gray Area."
I do not think that vaccines caused Nicky's Autism. I do believe however it's possible that they contributed to some of his regressions. Now that I've seen how much havoc his body endures just from eating an egg, it doesn't seem much of a stretch to think that injecting eggs, formaldehyde, aluminum, mercury and a bunch of other chemicals directly into his bloodstream could have had a profound effect on him. I don't think that every child is in danger of suffering the same consequences, and I absolutely believe that vaccines are necessary for our society's welfare, but I've met the parents of vaccine-injured children (some non-autistic as well) and I don't think it's fair or morally right to tell them that the unfortunate circumstances of their child losing the ability to speak, or suffering from seizures or losing his/her life was just an "acceptable risk" for the benefit of the rest of the population.
There has to be a better way. There has to be a way to manufacture safer vaccines. There has to be a way to screen children to see if their immune systems are strong enough to endure vaccines at a young, vulnerable age. There has to be a more conservative vaccine schedule that can still safeguard our kids from polio, measles, etc. in a period of time that everyone can agree on.
But instead of looking for better ways, everybody's still stuck on the finger-pointing. I remain firmly in the Gray Area, hoping for progress.
