This TIME article about the anti-vaccine movement–complete with scare-headline–is dangerous. By giving a national platform to cranks, TIME is contributing to nothing less than the absolutely preventable maiming and killing of children at the hands of paranoid and uninformed parents. Vaccines save literally millions of lives every year. The science is impeccable–more than impeccable, it is as certain as the sunrise. There may be occasional deaths–and while every death is sad, the connection here is more desperate assertion than fact–but compared to the millions of lives saved, how could anyone rationally reject vaccinations? The anti-vaccine movement is the triumph of ignorance and grief over informed consent, and TIME is making it that much easier for those who are only selectively educated on this to make a deadly choice on behalf of their children.

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