Autism and Vaccines

Autism is a sad disease and I can understand why parents want answers. What I don't understand is why, despite REPEATED scientific studies, people still believe there is some connection between autism and vaccines.

First of all, most of the claims are made surrounding mercury in vaccines. Guess what? There isn't mercury in childhood vaccines now. According to the CDC "Since 2001, with the exception of some influenza (flu) vaccines, thimerosal is not used as a preservative in routinely recommended childhood vaccines."(link)

So how, may I ask, could this nonexistent mercury cause elevated hormone levels requiring the prostate cancer drug lupron, as the recently-indicted doctor in this article suggests for his patients?

That's right. It can't. Get real. You should vaccinate your children because it protects them (and people like me) from things like measles. Let's use the hypothetical situation and say mercury in vaccines DOES cause autism (even though we already established it doesn't). What happens if you don't vaccinate? Your child could very well die of measles. Cases of deadly childhood diseases, like measles, are on the rise across the country. I'd rather have a living child with autism than one who died of measles.

But it isn't necessarily these healthy children from healthy parents that suffer the most. Children with issues like Primary Immune Deficiencies and cancers like leukemia can't fight of these germs at all. They also receive little to no benefit from vaccines. Not only do you endanger your child by not vaccinating, you also endanger me and very vulnerable kids that come into contact with your child.