4 d. ago False information is spreading about measles vaccine as more admit hearing fake claims it’s linked to autism

False information about measles and measles vaccines could be the difference between life and death

Politics

7 d. ago RFK's claims about people with autism offer a sinister insight into how Trumpism sees us all | John Harris

The war on science being waged by the US health secretary and the White House is bound to spread. We must be on our guardIn the recent past, Robert F Kennedy Jr has said that Donald Trump is “a terrible human being” and “probably a sociopath”. But in the US’s new age of irrationalism and chaos, these two men are now of one voice, pursuing a strand of Trumpist politics that sometimes feels strangely overlooked. With Trump once again in the White House and Kennedy ensconced as his health and human services secretary, what they are jointly leading is becoming clearer by the day: a war on science and knowledge that aims to replace them with the modern superstitions of conspiracy theory.Nearly 2,000 members of the US’s National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine have warned of “slashing funding for scientific agencies, terminating grants to scientists, defunding their laboratories, and hampering international scientific collaboration”. Even work on cancer is now under threa...

Politics

7 d. ago RFK’s statements prove autistic people and their families everywhere should fear Trump and his allies | John Harris

The idea that autism is some aberration that can be cured is typical of a movement that celebrates simplistic thinking and loathes human differenceIn the recent past, Robert F Kennedy Jr has said that Donald Trump is “a terrible human being” and “probably a sociopath”. But in the US’s new age of irrationalism and chaos, these two men are now of one voice, pursuing a strand of Trumpist politics that sometimes feels strangely overlooked. With Trump once again in the White House and Kennedy ensconced as his health and human services secretary, what they are jointly leading is becoming clearer by the day: a war on science and knowledge that aims to replace them with the modern superstitions of conspiracy theory.Nearly 2,000 members of the US’s National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine have warned of “slashing funding for scientific agencies, terminating grants to scientists, defunding their laboratories, and hampering international scientific collaboration”. Even work on...

Politics

1 week ago How RFK Jr’s mixed messages on vaccines are impacting scientific research – podcast

As a measles outbreak expands across the US, comments by health secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr have come under scrutiny. Kennedy has said that the best way to prevent measles is to get vaccinated – but he has also caused alarm among paediatricians, vaccine experts and lawmakers by promoting vitamin A and nutrition as treatments for measles and questioning the safety testing of the MMR vaccine. He also recently announced a US-led scientific effort to establish the cause of what he terms the ‘autism epidemic’, with some experts concerned that this study will support the widely discredited association between autism and vaccines. US health reporter Jessica Glenza tells Ian Sample, the Guardian’s science editor, how these mixed messages are already impacting scientific research.RFK Jr says his response to measles outbreak should be ‘model for the world’RFK Jr contradicts experts by linking autism rise to ‘environmental toxins’ Continue reading...

Science

2 w. ago RFK Jr giving families ‘false hope’ on autism, says outgoing US vaccine official

Dr Peter Marks, forced to resign by Trump administration, sees no ‘possible way’ to determine cause by SeptemberThe US health secretary, Robert F Kennedy Jr, should not offer “false hope” to families by boasting he can figure out what causes autism as soon as September, says the physician who resigned as the nation’s top vaccine official amid what he called anti-vaccination misinformation from the Trump administration cabinet member.In an interview during which he alluded to his help helming Operation Warp Speed – the initiative that took only about nine months to develop, manufacture and distribute the vaccines protecting the public from Covid-19 – Dr Peter Marks warned that autism “is an incredibly complicated issue”. Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago Supreme court orders Trump to return Maryland man wrongly deported to El Salvador to US – live

Justices rule in favor of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who lived in the US legally with a work permit and was erroneously deported to El SalvadorSupreme court orders US to help return man wrongly deported to El SalvadorThe House on Wednesday passed a bill restricting district court judges from issuing nationwide injunctions in a move that would vastly diminish the ability of courts to block Donald Trump’s policies, The Hill reports.Dubbed the No Rogue Rulings Act, the legislation would limit judges to providing relief only to parties directly involved in the suit. It passed in a 219-213 vote.Since President Trump has returned to office, left-leaning activists have cooperated with ideological judges who they have sought out to take their cases and weaponize nationwide injunctions to stall dozens of lawful executive actions and initiatives.These sweeping injunctions represent judicial activism at the worst.My colleagues on the other side of the aisle want you to believe that somehow these na...

Politics

2 w. ago Trump leans into RFK’s conspiracies about vaccines and autism: ‘Maybe it’s a shot’

Experts say research shows that vaccines are not associated with autism spectrum disorder

Politics

2 w. ago House passes budget resolution, paving way for Trump tax and spending cuts – live

Resolution adopted in a 216-214 vote, with two Republicans joining all Democrats to vote against itThe House on Wednesday passed a bill restricting district court judges from issuing nationwide injunctions in a move that would vastly diminish the ability of courts to block Donald Trump’s policies, The Hill reports.Dubbed the No Rogue Rulings Act, the legislation would limit judges to providing relief only to parties directly involved in the suit. It passed in a 219-213 vote.Since President Trump has returned to office, left-leaning activists have cooperated with ideological judges who they have sought out to take their cases and weaponize nationwide injunctions to stall dozens of lawful executive actions and initiatives.These sweeping injunctions represent judicial activism at the worst.My colleagues on the other side of the aisle want you to believe that somehow these nationwide injunctions being issued by courts across the country against Donald Trump’s illegal and unconstitutiona...

Economics

2 w. ago Mike Johnson presses ahead with House budget vote despite Republican opposition – live

House speaker delayed vote last night after some Republicans were reportedly threatening rebellionThe House on Wednesday passed a bill restricting district court judges from issuing nationwide injunctions in a move that would vastly diminish the ability of courts to block Donald Trump’s policies, The Hill reports.Dubbed the No Rogue Rulings Act, the legislation would limit judges to providing relief only to parties directly involved in the suit. It passed in a 219-213 vote.Since President Trump has returned to office, left-leaning activists have cooperated with ideological judges who they have sought out to take their cases and weaponize nationwide injunctions to stall dozens of lawful executive actions and initiatives.These sweeping injunctions represent judicial activism at the worst.My colleagues on the other side of the aisle want you to believe that somehow these nationwide injunctions being issued by courts across the country against Donald Trump’s illegal and unconstitutional...

Politics

2 w. ago Mike Johnson delays House budget vote after Republican rebellion threatened defeat – live

Delay is blow to House speaker as dozens of Republicans were reportedly threatening to not back voteThe House on Wednesday passed a bill restricting district court judges from issuing nationwide injunctions in a move that would vastly diminish the ability of courts to block Donald Trump’s policies, The Hill reports.Dubbed the No Rogue Rulings Act, the legislation would limit judges to providing relief only to parties directly involved in the suit. It passed in a 219-213 vote.Since President Trump has returned to office, left-leaning activists have cooperated with ideological judges who they have sought out to take their cases and weaponize nationwide injunctions to stall dozens of lawful executive actions and initiatives.These sweeping injunctions represent judicial activism at the worst.My colleagues on the other side of the aisle want you to believe that somehow these nationwide injunctions being issued by courts across the country against Donald Trump’s illegal and unconstitution...

Politics

3 w. ago Hollywood actress claims top officials tried to smear her for claiming her son's autism was caused by vaccines

The Hollywood actress, now 52, revealed her son Evan's diagnosis in 2007, saying it came after he received the Measles, Mumps and Rubella (MMR) vaccine and then suffered from seizures that left him unable to breathe.

Politics

4 w. ago My child has autism. Trump and RFK Jr linking it to vaccines scares parents like me

We’re afraid the baseless theory spread by the president stigmatises our kids – and could affect access to careIt was a moment when Donald Trump’s larger-than-life presence on the global stage became unexpectedly personal.Near the end of his one-hour, 40-minute speech to a joint session of Congress on 4 March, the US president diverted from his favoured themes of a new golden age of American greatness and grievances against his adversaries to address a more unlikely topic: autism. Continue reading...

Politics