Bad Astronomy blog has a very succinct summary of the crap surrounding the non-link between childhood vaccines and the "increase" in autism. I'll summarize the summary here: no link has ever been found, despite massive attempts to fine one.
I'm linking to that post and reminding us all about this issue, not just because it's a good thing to fight for the forces of reason against pseudo-scientific BS. The vaccine "debate" is especially important because the misinformation it generates gets implanted in the brains of otherwise rational people, who at some point might make an unfortunate decision with horrible consequences. We are (happily) quite removed from the days of many children dying from measles and rubella. Can we not let sleeping dogs lie?
This is not a theoretical topic to me. I understand exactly what it means to have that tiny bit of doubt in my mind as I sign the form allowing my second child to be vaccinated, despite the diagnosis of the first. We all want to find a cause for autism -- vaccines aren't it. Keep looking elsewhere. Can we instead focus this misdirected energy on looking for a cure? In the meantime, I propose a new name for those considering skipping a vaccine or worse propagating this misinformation: child abusers.
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