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Wednesday, March 4, 2015

Republican in Charge of Science Oversight Doesn’t Vaccinate His Kids

by Jesse Berney
Barry Loudermilk hasn’t vaccinated his kids.
CongLoudermilkWhy should you care? Because Rep. Barry Loudermilk of Georgia is the chairman of the House subcommittee in charge of oversight of science and technology.
In a recent town hall meeting back in his district, a vaccine truther asked the Republican if the CDC was hiding a link between vaccines and autism. He told her he believed vaccination was a parent’s choice and said “we didn’t immunize, and we’re healthy.”
It’s the “we’re healthy” that reveals the incredible ignorance at the root of Loudermilk’s thinking. You don’t vaccinate your kids to improve their overall health; you vaccinate them to prevent the spread of specific infections. It’s great that none of Loudermilk’s kids, who are home-schooled, have caught the measles or another disease easily prevented by vaccination, but that doesn’t mean it couldn’t happen, or that one of his kids couldn’t infect someone who can’t be vaccinated, like an infant.
As chairman of the House Science and Technology Committee’s subcommittee on oversight, Loudermilk wields enormous power over the direction of science policy in this country. With a measles outbreak infecting more than 150 people just 15 years after we had virtually eradicated the disease, our government should be doing everything it can to ensure every kid who can get a full slate of vaccinations gets them.
People like Loudermilk who believe the “choice” of ignorant parents is more important than the health of all children are dangerous enough. When they have the influence that he has, they’re a public menace.

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