RFK Jr is on the wrong side of mental health, learning disabilities and autism

I’ve spent a lot of time digging into the “vaccines cause autism” claim, and I want to share what I’ve found—

1. Decades of research confirm no link
I know it’s easy to point to something like the MMR shot and say, “Hey, my kid developed autism after their shots.” But correlation isn’t causation. Massive studies involving over a million kids across the U.S. and Europe have consistently shown there is no causal relationship between vaccines—including MMR—and autism spectrum disorders.

2. Andrew Wakefield’s paper was a house of cards
Back in 1998, Dr. Andrew Wakefield published a paper in The Lancet claiming a new “autistic enterocolitis” linked to MMR. It sounded scientific, but he:

1.) Falsified data
2.) Hid a clear financial conflict of interest
3.) Performed invasive procedures on kids without proper ethics approval

A 217-day investigation by the U.K. General Medical Council found him guilty of “dishonest and irresponsible” conduct. The Lancet retracted his paper, and Wakefield was struck off the U.K. medical register—ending his career as a physician. Contrary to some rumors, he was never jailed; the fallout was strictly professional.

3. Why this matters to us
I’ll even admit I was surprised when Robert F. Kennedy Jr.—a man whose own family has endured heartbreak over mental–health issues—started echoing the vaccine-autism myth despite JFK signing the Mental Health Act during his presidency. It’s ironic when you consider his aunt Rosemary Kennedy, who suffered a tragic lobotomy in 1941 in the name of ‘treatment,’ long before modern standards of medical ethics or patient safety were in place. That history reminds me that quackery can lurk even in the most celebrated families—and why we conservatives must be doubly vigilant: we defend personal liberty, but we must also insist on sound science, not sensationalism, when it comes to our children’s health.