Debunked Autism Claims Resurface After Press Convention, And Supreme Court docket to Hear Instances on Conversion Remedy and Faculty Vaccine Mandates — The Monitor

False Claims About Autism Charges in Cuba and in Amish Communities Resurface After Press Convention on Tylenol

What’s Taking place?

At a September 22 press conference asserting HHS actions associated to acetaminophen, the principle ingredient in Tylenol, President Donald Trump revived deceptive claims concerning the prevalence of autism in sure populations, together with in Cuba and in Amish communities within the U.S. President Trump cited the 2 teams as examples of people that “don’t take vaccines and don’t take any capsules” and “have primarily no autism,” implying an affiliation between vaccines and medicines and autism.

Why It Issues

• Political amplification of those long-debunked claims might convey them to new audiences, notably if well being communicators have stopped actively countering these claims.
• Renewed circulation of the declare that vaccines trigger autism might affect dad and mom’ vaccination selections and contribute to vaccine hesitancy, regardless of in depth analysis displaying no causal relationship.
• Makes an attempt to hyperlink widespread medicines or vaccines to autism might contribute to stigma and reinforce the concept autism, which has a largely genetic basis, is a preventable situation.

What Are Folks Saying?

KFF’s monitoring of the social media platform X discovered that, as of September 29, mentions of autism amongst Cuban and Amish populations recognized in our search rose almost 1400% during the last 30 days when in comparison with the earlier 30-day interval, rising from nearly 12,000 to roughly 160,000 posts, reposts, and feedback. Lots of the most-engaged-with posts sought to refute the claims, however some influential accounts, together with a radio host and founding father of InfoWars who has greater than 4 million followers, amplified them to giant audiences.

The place Do These Claims Come From?

These narratives have appeared cyclically for many years, usually tied to broader messaging against vaccination. The claims depend on and perpetuate assertions that vaccines are related to autism, however many years of analysis has proven there’s no association between autism and vaccines.

What Does The Proof Say?

• Many Amish kids do obtain vaccines, with a 2017 study of an Amish neighborhood in Ohio displaying that 98% of oldsters surveyed had accepted at the very least some vaccines for his or her kids. A 2011 survey discovered related patterns, with 85% of Amish dad and mom reporting that every one or a few of their kids had acquired at the very least one immunization.
• Whereas some analysis has steered rates of autism among Amish children are decrease than the prevalence within the normal inhabitants, the subject has not been extensively studied. The decrease price could also be a results of underdiagnosis, with cultural variations together with different utilization of healthcare and completely different instructional environments doubtlessly resulting in underreporting. Equally, lower reported rates of autism in Cuba might consequence from lack of diagnostic sources. The World Well being Group (WHO) has said that the prevalence of autism in lots of low- and middle-income nations is unknown.

Supreme Court docket Case Challenges State Bans on Conversion Remedy

What’s Taking place?

The Supreme Court docket started listening to instances this week for its new time period, with oral arguments happening on Tuesday in Chiles v. Salazar, a case that addresses whether or not state bans on conversion remedy for minors violate Constitutional free speech protections. Conversion remedy refers to practices that attempt to vary or suppress an LGBTQ particular person’s sexual orientation or gender to evolve to heterosexual or cisgender identities.

Why This Issues

• The case focuses on free speech protections, however discussions round conversion remedy bans and the case inaccurately painting conversion remedy as an efficient method to change a person’s gender identification or sexual orientation by way of intervention, contradicting established medical consensus. Such claims low cost the identified dangers of conversion remedy, including greater charges of melancholy, suicidality, and substance abuse.  If the Court docket overturns Colorado’s ban of conversion remedy for minors, the choice could possibly be used to legitimize these false claims in help of conversion remedy.
• In 2023, the KFF/Washington Post Survey of Trans Adults discovered that 11% of trans adults mentioned as a baby or teenager they attended conversion or reparative remedy that attempted to vary their sexual orientation or gender identification. A ruling upholding the ban would reaffirm states’ potential to manage conversion remedy primarily based on its documented harms. 23 states and DC have banned conversion therapy for minors, however a ruling overturning these bans may restrict states’ potential to manage these practices.

What Are Folks Saying?

• The Supreme Court docket case has introduced consideration to conversion remedy in on-line discussions. In 2025, “conversion remedy” was talked about a mean of about 1,015 occasions per day in posts, reposts, and feedback throughout X, Reddit, and Bluesky. However on the day the Supreme Court docket announced that it will evaluate the case, the variety of mentions jumped to eight,586, adopted by 9,571 the following day. This was the largest spike of the yr, displaying how the case announcement pulled the subject into broader public dialog. Though smaller in dimension, further spikes in dialog about conversion remedy occurred round key case developments, with mentions greater than tripling in comparison with the every day common on August 6, across the time when oral arguments had been scheduled. The will increase in dialog carefully monitor with court docket milestones, suggesting that protection of the case instantly fuels dialogue and doubtlessly creates moments for false claims to unfold.
• Whereas most of the most-engaged-with posts, particularly earlier within the yr, condemned conversion remedy, the visibility of the case has contributed to a rise in false claims about conversion remedy. Posts all through September incorrectly claimed that bans “criminalize serving to confused youth” or depart youth with gender dysphoria with out sources.
• General, the quantity of on-line dialog about conversion remedy remains to be restricted in comparison with discourse round different LGBTQ points. However as consideration in direction of conversion remedy will increase, false narratives that declare banning it removes help for youth with gender dysphoria or that ignore usually agreed upon harms have gained visibility. In a single high-engagement publish, for instance, a dad or mum of a kid with gender dysphoria mentioned that Colorado’s ban restricted what counselors may focus on throughout remedy periods, misleadingly asserting that this led to worse psychological well being and harmed “weak children.” Most of these posts body the bans as limiting entry to care somewhat than limiting dangerous practices, which can resonate with audiences unfamiliar with the medical consensus that conversion remedy causes psychological hurt. KFF is monitoring whether or not the beginning of oral arguments prompts new or resurfacing narratives, as similar patterns emerged when the Court docket beforehand heard instances involving gender-affirming care.

How Do the Authorized Proceedings Create Alternatives to Legitimatize These Narratives?

• A number of the authorized arguments offered within the case create alternatives for deceptive narratives to realize credibility. The respondent’s brief addresses these misconceptions by noting that the petitioners declare, with out substantial proof, that “restrictions like Colorado’s” have left “detransitioners . . . with no counseling help in any respect in a lot of america.” The temporary additionally highlights that the petitioners depend on an unverified Reddit publish to counsel that sufferers combating gender identification may have issue accessing psychological well being care.
• Whereas the petitioners within the case don’t primarily deal with gender-affirming care of their preliminary request for evaluate by the court docket or of their temporary, they do counsel that conversion practices would possibly play a task as an alternative choice to gender-affirming care. Some amicus briefs filed in help of the petitioner echo this sentiment, with a couple of utilizing inflammatory language round this care. Such narratives erroneously conflate gender-affirming care debates with the difficulty earlier than the court docket on this case and counsel conversion remedy is an alternative to gender-affirming care, distracting from the proof across the harms related to conversion efforts.

What Does The Proof Say?

• Conversion remedy is not supported by evidence and research exhibits makes an attempt to vary sexual orientation or gender identification are related to opposed psychological well being outcomes. There isn’t a credible proof that such practices can change sexual orientation or gender identification, and 28 medical and psychological well being associations have signed onto a joint statement opposing conversion practices. Some, together with the AAP and American Psychological Association (APA), have offered unbiased statements opposing the observe.

Problem to Faculty Vaccine Mandates Focuses on Use of Fetal Cell Traces

What’s Taking place?

• Throughout its October time period, the Supreme Court docket will weigh whether or not to grant an emergency injunction in We the Patriots USA, Inc. v. Ventura Unified School District, a case involving a California mom who argues that the state’s college vaccine mandate, requiring her son to get vaccinated to attend college, infringes on her non secular freedom as a result of some vaccines had been developed or examined utilizing fetal cell strains initially derived from abortions carried out many years in the past. The girl claims that vaccinating her son with merchandise linked to abortion would violate her Christian religion, no matter when the abortion occurred.
• The case has drawn consideration as false claims flow into on social media that vaccines include fetal tissue or “particles,” regardless of no such materials being current in remaining vaccine merchandise.

Why This Issues

• Whereas the present case focuses on the historic use of those cell strains in vaccine improvement, a factual factor of how some vaccines had been developed, the elevated consideration on the subject may improve publicity to pre-existing false claims that present vaccines include fetal tissue or “particles” of their remaining merchandise.
• Regardless of main non secular authorities, including the Catholic Church, concluding that utilizing vaccines developed with these cell strains is morally acceptable, the case gives a chance for the false declare that fetal tissue is current in present vaccines to unfold and will affect vaccination selections by dad and mom who’ve a spiritual objection to abortion. Although no fetal materials is current in remaining vaccine merchandise, this false impression might contribute to increased vaccine hesitancy and declining public confidence in vaccines, notably amongst dad and mom with non secular objections or restricted understanding of the distinction between historic cell line use and the vaccines they obtain.

How Is The Narrative Spreading?

• Influential figures, together with well being authorities like HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., have beforehand misrepresented the historic use of fetal cell strains in vaccine improvement, claiming that fetal tissue or fetal “particles” is current in remaining vaccine merchandise.
• On common, 168 posts, reposts, or feedback on X talked about fetal cell strains or tissue in vaccine-related content material recognized in KFF’s search every day in September. This quantity rose to just about 2,000 on September 21 following Fox News coverage of the emergency petition, illustrating how the narrative can broaden when amplified by way of high-profile media consideration.
• Even earlier than the case gained prominence, false claims about fetal tissue being current in vaccines had been circulating on-line. Days earlier than the emergency petition was filed on September 11, one account with almost 2 million followers listed “fetal tissue” amongst a listing of vaccine elements, implying that oldsters wouldn’t select to vaccinate their kids in the event that they knew vaccines contained such tissue. Lots of the feedback on the publish signaled settlement, with a number of criticizing what they referred to as pharmaceutical greed or corruption.

The place Did This Confusion Come From?

• Fetal cell lines are laboratory-grown cells utilized in vaccine analysis and manufacturing as a result of they supply a managed atmosphere wanted to create vaccines. These cell strains had been initially established from elective abortions carried out many years in the past, however the cells used at present are many generations faraway from the unique tissue, and no additional abortions are carried out or needed for vaccine improvement.
• Some vaccines, together with the rubella part of the MMR vaccine, the chickenpox vaccine, and the hepatitis A vaccine had been developed utilizing these strains.

What Does The Proof Say?

No fetal tissue or “particles” is current in remaining vaccine merchandise. The manufacturing course of includes rising viruses in fetal cell strains, then purifying the vaccines to take away any mobile materials, leaving solely the viral parts wanted for immunity.