Under the misconception that “scientists” have proven links between vaccination during childhood and autism, Jim Carrey joined the ranks of public figures such as Jenny McCarthy when he publicly spoke against mandatory vaccinations. On June 30, he tweeted, “I am not anti-vaccine. I am anti-thimerosal, anti-mercury. They have taken some of the mercury laden thimerosal out of vaccines. NOT ALL!”

Carrey made this statement in reference to a recently passed California law that now bars the exemption of children who attend public or private school from vaccination on the basis of personal belief. 

Before we go into why it’s especially harmful to treat the development of autism as a looming element of monstrosity that must be warded off at all costs, let’s examine the various fallacies in Carrey’s assertions — assertions that the anti-vaccine crowd frequently throw about. 

Being “anti-thimerosal” indicates that Carrey still subscribes, as many do, to the idea that thimerosal, a preservative used in some vaccines, jeopardizes the health of the children whose vaccines contain it — a line of thought that has replaced the now-retracted 1998 study that first made a connection between vaccines and autism. Initially after the study was published, British vaccination rates steeply declined. However, the number of people who developed autism in this period of time did not — though the number of children who contracted measles escalated rather dramatically. Despite that various other studies have failed to demonstrate any such links between both autism and vaccines and autism and thimerosal, and despite that the referenced study has been dismissed nearly universally by renowned scientists, people who are anti-vaccine continue to cite the dangers of vaccines in general. 

Let’s go back to mercury, an element widely known for being volatile and highly toxic. It would certainly be reasonable for parents to object to their children being injected with mercury, but this is not the case here. Thimerosal doesn’t contain mercury; it contains ethyl mercury. Anyone who has taken an entry-level chemistry course can tell you that the two are not the same thing, just as oxygen is not the same as carbon dioxide and sodium is not the same as salt. In fact, even throughout a body’s digestive processes, mercury never exists in isolation.

But is it wrong for the government to force someone who is anti-vaccine to vaccinate their kids? No, I would say not. When parents refuse to vaccinate their children on the basis of ignorant beliefs that their children are too young to understand or refute, they endanger their kids, and they endanger whatever kids hang around their kids. As seen with the measles outbreak that immediately followed the establishment of the anti-vaccine mindset, not vaccinating your children can leave a huge impact. 

In addition to spreading sickness, calling for a ban on vaccines containing thimerosal on the foundation that it “causes” autism harshly stigmatizes those who actually have autism. Seeming to go along with the current societal resurgence of anti-vaccination mindsets, a United States government task force has come forward to say that more research needs to be done before doctors institute a universal screening process for autism. 

People who are anti-vaccine are quick to point at autism, a neurodevelopmental disorder, as a vastly undesirable handicap that renders those who have it “abnormal” and “wrong.” Though people with autism may lie outside the norm in terms of thought processes, why are we so eager to deem their way of thinking to be wrong? To treat an entire group of people (many of whom are fully functioning and integrated within society) as though they are lab experiments gone wrong rather than as people is as inhumane as anti-vaccine advocates claim vaccinations are. Additionally, people with autism should not have to feel as though they must conform to societal expectations in order to gain acceptance and recognition. They should be free to decide what is best for them instead of being constantly bombarded with accusations of “turning out wrong.”

Current anti-vaccine perspectives are mired in false beliefs and fears of being “less than normal.” Though further research may show that vaccines do cause harm in some aspect, current research fails to uphold the allegations anti-vaccine advocates continue to lob at people who don’t want their children to contract preventable diseases. 

Note: Corrections have been made to this column.