Position on Petition to Declare Anti-Vaxxers "Mentally Disabled"

There's a petitiion circulating-- which we very deliberately will not link here-- that proposes to declare people who oppose vaccines "mentally disabled."

We are pro-vaccine but absolutely oppose this petition.
People with disabilities have unfairly and disproportionately been linked to the anti-vaccine movement. They have been used as fuel for the fire of anti-vaxxers. Many an anti-vaccine parents has said that they would prefer to have a dead child than a disabled one. People with disabilities have a hard enough time with bullying-- from people of all ages, across all walks of life-- without being unfairly linked to a movement that denies their humanity and erases their experiences.

Besides that, it's simply not true that people who oppose vaccines are "mentally disabled." The vast majority of anti-vaccine activists are actually educated, intelligent adults who do not have learning disabilities. They are not "stupid." They are misled. How do we know this? Because the three women behind Back From Nature have been there.

Please do not post links to that petition on the Back from Nature Facebook page or blog. We do not support the petition in any capacity. It is not a pro-vaccine petition. It's an act of bullying.