 |
|
|
|
 |
 |
For parents of children with autism, every day can be a struggle.
Wednesday, thousands of parents with autistic children marched all the way to the U.S. Capitol, demanding a change in the way their children are vaccinated.
Michelle Brock said her daughter's autism became apparent just days after her normal vaccines.
"She lost hair; she lost all of her language very quickly," said Brock. "We have all of her lab results that show heavy metal toxicity."
Her parents say because of her autism, Ashley, 6, didn't understand boundaries. Tragically, she wandered off two weeks ago, fell into a pool and drowned. "And if there's anything that we can do to try to spare anybody this, we want to do it."
Participating parents believe their children received too many vaccines too soon. "A lot of our kids are getting too many vaccines too soon, and there's obvious harm being done to our children. We want Congress to act and pass laws that change the vaccine schedule," said parent Bobby Gallama.
Among today's demonstrators were celebrity actors Jenny McCarthy and Jim Carey, who say this cause is their labor of love. The group says it is not anti-vaccine, but advocates for what it calls, "Greener Vaccines."
"What we are saying is that the number of vaccines that are given and the ingredients like the mercury, ether, aluminum and the antifreeze need to be removed immediately," said Jenny McCarthy.
An immunization campaign funded in part by drug manufacturers says there is no mercury in any vaccines, except the flu vaccine. "And so I just don't understand why parents can't understand that there are good people out there trying to do good things by vaccinating babies [and] trying to make sure they're safe," said vaccine advocate, Amy Pisani.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention maintains that scientific evidence shows no link between autism and vaccines. It estimates one in 150 children born in the U.S. has autism.
ABC 7 News to leave comments on news stories.