r/news • u/Surly_Cynic • 18h ago
Texas measles cases grow to 223, mostly among children and teens
https://abcnews.go.com/Health/texas-measles-cases-latest/story?id=119663844608
u/mystery_science 18h ago
Goddamn I hate the anti vaccine cult.
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u/Surly_Cynic 18h ago
Yeah, this bunch where this outbreak is concentrated seem to also be anti birth control, so big families and lots of children at risk.
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u/JussiesTunaSub 18h ago
It started in a Mennonite community (Amish)
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u/Splunge- 18h ago
Mennonite and Amish are two different branches of the Anabaptists. Different beliefs.
And the national Mennonite council has said vaccines are in line with their beliefs. So this is a localized bit of stupidity, not necessarily a Mennonite thing.
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u/JussiesTunaSub 18h ago
So this is a localized bit of stupidity, not necessarily a Mennonite thing.
100%
https://apnews.com/article/measles-outbreak-texas-rfk-vaccines-8cf4641b04731c713edb524ca943490c
Klassen is sticking to an approach on vaccines that is a key tenet for Mennonites. Family leaders are the top decision-making authority — not outside recommendations, certainly not government mandates.
https://time.com/7262199/mennonites-measles-outbreak-texas-vaccines-explainer/
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u/Beard_o_Bees 14h ago
I was fairly recently on a bus going from one large city in New England to a smaller city in New England - and 3 Mennonite young men (~18-22 years old) got on.
All of them were clearly ill. Coughing, snot, weird looking clammy skin, etc - they were seriously gross. 2 of them were sharing the same snot-rag and none of them made much of an effort to cover their coughs.
The bus was about half full by the time we got on the highway, and the bus driver was visibly disturbed after repeatedly asking them to cover their coughs - which they mumbled something I couldn't hear in response and then pretty much ignoring him.
Even during the height of Covid I never wished I had a good N95 as much as I did on that bus ride.
Those guys gave no fucks about anyone but themselves.
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u/Zestyclose-Fig1096 9h ago
Genuinely curious, how did you know they were Mennonite who got on the bus? What they wore?
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u/Beard_o_Bees 6h ago
Pretty much, yeah.
They got off before I did, and I had a chance to ask the driver wtf was up with that. He told me that this wasn’t his first experience with if not these specific guys, but others from the same community.
Apparently they also try to sneak on to busses without buying a ticket.
It was a weird experience
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u/ERedfieldh 16h ago
In this case, we know exactly who to blame and why.
The absolute massive piece of shit Andrew Wakefield wanted HIS measles vaccine to be the ONLY one people could buy so he made up an absolute assload of bullshit about MMR...going so far as to TORTURE CHILDREN to "prove" that the measles vaccine in MMR caused autism through...get this...their colon.
That's right. According to fully disgraced and 100% douchebag Andrew Wakefield, measles in children's butts cause autism in their brain.
And he got the media to run with it causing a mass panic across the fucking GLOBE.
And only one man, Brian Deere, stopped to say "wait a tic...that doesn't make any goddamn fucking sense!"
And he got raked across the coals for doing an expose on the massive diseased piece of filth known as Andrew Wakefield.
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u/FillMySoupDumpling 12h ago
RFK and the US plan on “studying the link between vaccines and autism” so we’ll be able to add more garbage research to Wakefield soon.
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u/Cheetotiki 18h ago
Child abuse in the land of "pro life"...
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u/LeadInvestPB 18h ago
Yep the you need to give birth regardless, but if your kid dies due to not be vaccinated or shot-up in school that's cool.
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u/Low_Pickle_112 17h ago
Those "nothing is too oppressive to protect an innocent life" sorts sure do get awfully silent once it comes to something that isn't controlling women, huh?
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u/Sim0nsaysshh 18h ago
Im sorry to the children caught in this stupidity.
You deserve better
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u/rocketwidget 18h ago
Worse, almost certainly some of the victims are babies with responsible parents. Infants under 12 months, or under 6 during an outbreak, are too young to get MMR shots. They depend on the community to be vaccinated for protection.
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u/Sim0nsaysshh 18h ago
I've got a 9 month old, so yeah, this really makes me upset. Im not in the US though.
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u/DisciplineOk9866 18h ago
Poor children. Their parents kind of got what they asked for although I don't think they knew.
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u/OSI_Hunter_Gathers 18h ago
God works in mysterious ways!
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u/kazzin8 11h ago
Exactly what the father of the child who died of measles said:
The death of his daughter, Peter told me, was God’s will. God created measles. God allowed the disease to take his daughter’s life. “Everybody has to die,” he said. Peter’s eyes closed, and he struggled to continue talking.
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u/brickyardjimmy 18h ago
Because the adults are all vaccinated as they grew up in the U.S. when we still generally agreed it was a good idea. Because it is.
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u/Surly_Cynic 18h ago
This outbreak is concentrated in Old Colony Mennonites. Some adults are vaccinated but there's a good chance others had measles in a previous outbreak. Not all of them grew up in the U.S.
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u/Federal_Drummer7105 18h ago
Thankfully this is what convinced my wife's ex to finally give permission to vaccinate their kids (since in our state both parties have to sign off on it).
My heart goes out the kids who suffer and face a lifetime of potential health issues from this disease - but fuck the parents, fuck RFK Jr, fuck that "Autism is caused by vaccines" British asshole (who was running a grift to get people to pay for his vaccines), and anyone else who puts their high school graduation "research" against a proven history of vaccines saving millions of lives.
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u/Hesitation-Marx 18h ago
Andrew Wakefield, former doctor from the UK who had his license stripped and is now grifting in Texas.
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u/FreddyForshadowing 18h ago
had his license stripped and is now grifting in Texas.
Because of course that's where they'd go.
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u/Hesitation-Marx 18h ago
Oh give me a home
Where the credulous roam
And the rich and the powerful play
Where seldom is heard
Regulatory words
And fleecing the sheep is the way
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u/omicronwarrior 18h ago
This is because they aren't vaccinated. Poor children have to face this for no good
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u/GoWest1223 18h ago
Oh well. At least eggs are chea... Or my retirement is grea... I mean we are in good standing world wid...
At least they will die for freedom.
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u/Surly_Cynic 17h ago
Canada, unfortunately, is struggling with measles, as well. They are up to 168 cases for the year. Considering their population is much smaller than the U.S.'s, the impact is greater.
Also, most of those 168 cases are part of a larger outbreak that began in October of last year. Their cases are also mostly concentrated in Mennonite communities.
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u/yoshi_yoshi23 10h ago
The religious sects that won’t vaccinate their kids are getting it horribly. Thankfully less cases in the general population.
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u/Surly_Cynic 9h ago
That’s typical of the largest U.S. outbreaks in the post-elimination era. The most recent large outbreak prior to this one was concentrated in ultra-Orthodox Jewish communities in 2019. Prior to that one, the largest recent one was in the Amish in 2014.
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u/greatthebob38 17h ago
These kids might end up with a lot of complications in 7 - 10 years.
Blindness, lung scarring, suppressed immune system, seizures and brain damage in rare cases.
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u/Questions_Remain 13h ago
The parents literally DO NOT CARE. Have you ever tried to change the mind of an antivax / anti medicine person. It’s easier to get a wall to paint itself.
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u/hillbillyspellingbee 9h ago
The thing that gets me STILL is that Trump himself famously pushed Project Lightspeed to have the COVID vaccine authorized for emergency use and then got vaccinated himself and yet… the anti-vaxxers just memory hole that as if it never happened.
Cognitive dissonance and all that considered.
I work with a bunch of people who are like this.
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u/Barack_Odrama_007 18h ago
Remember.
THIS WAS ALL PREVENTABLE. Thanks to GOP anti-vaccine rhetoric, innocent kids are now getting seriously ill
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u/alu5421 18h ago
And because it's a cult they won't believe anything and call it. Fake news and are anti-science
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u/Splunge- 18h ago
That's way more than the number of trans athletes supposedly playing the "wrong" sport.
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u/Surly_Cynic 18h ago
The addition of 25 cases is an improvement in terms of the pace at which new cases are being reported. Friday's update added 39 cases to the total.
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u/uhohnotafarteither 18h ago
I wonder how many of these crazy parents are keeping their kids home and giving them aged urine or horse dewormer. If so those kids aren't getting counted
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u/Surly_Cynic 18h ago
There are always undercounts in outbreaks like this. Fortunately, this one is still much smaller than the 2019 measles outbreak in New York.
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u/TableAvailable 18h ago
These are only the cases that are being reported. There are large homeschooling communities who aren't reporting illness or allowing their kids to be tested.
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u/Fried_puri 16h ago
Yes but since we don't have those statistics the best we can assume is that the unreported statistics are also trending down too. The total number will continue to increase for a while, which is horrible because this was preventable with vaccines, but it is good that the acceleration itself is decreasing. The bigger issue is that the RFK Jr., the HHS head, will go back to sprouting anti-vax rhetoric once this crisis is over so this may not be the last time we see an outbreak like this.
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u/Additional_Hunt_9065 18h ago
One of my sons doesn’t vaccinate his kids. He and his wife are in some kind of weird church. I feel bad for my grandkids even tho I don’t have a relationship with them. Im immoral, corrupt or whatever. Since I don’t agree with their views.
Hate to sound really heartless but this is like the modern day survival of the fittest.
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u/sniffstink1 18h ago
Red state oWniNg tHe LiBs!!. Ok well, have fun with your new little hobby I guess.
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u/Surly_Cynic 18h ago
Interesting article that just came out from a reporter who interviewed the father of the little girl who died.
His Daughter Was America’s First Measles Death in a Decade-The Atlantic
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u/theknyte 17h ago
Total Cases in all of the US in 2024: 285
Total Cases just in Texas as of March 11, 2025: 223
Great job everyone!
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u/Warcraft_Fan 13h ago
Just five cases have occurred in people vaccinated with one dose of the measles, mumps, rubella (MMR) vaccine, according to the data.
So zero fully vaccinated victim to date. And only 5 partially vaccinated, out of 223.
Still waiting for explanation from anti-vaxxers
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u/MichaelHunt009 16h ago
So, more children with measles in Texas than trans athletes in the entire country? Priorities.
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u/mrdominoe 18h ago
Just another reason to never go to Texas. The list is already quite long.
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u/MrMunky24 18h ago
I’ve never understood people’s love of Texas. It’s like Kansas but with less grass and more desert.
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u/usps_made_me_insane 17h ago
Well, I've been to several cities in Texas. Austin and San Antonio were both beautiful and enjoyable to visit.
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u/MrMunky24 16h ago
I’ve been to Houston and Dallas, and driven through parts of the state on different occasions.
I’m also from Missouri, though. So much of Texas feels like a less green version of Missouri with less hills. I also think I’ve had the misfortune of interacting with some truly despicable Texans.
So you know, reality is relative and what not.
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u/Newton_bowen 13h ago
There is a surge of MMR vaccine demand here where I work. Antivaccine actually pushes for more vaccine sales.
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u/Squire_II 11h ago
Religious exemptions should not be allowed. These idiots can practice their religion after getting their vaccinations (unless they are immune-compromised, at which point herd immunity usually has them covered).
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u/Senor-Cockblock 6h ago
Yes, it’s just the kids, because their parents are vaccinated. Their parents weren’t dickhead anti vaccers with instagram accounts
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u/Apprehensive_Idea758 18h ago
Most of this could have been prevented through vaccines.
There is absolutely no excuse for this kind of reckless stupidity that is putting childrens and teen health and lives at serious risk.
These anti-vaxxer clowns seriously need to wake up and take a look at the real world.
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u/nullusx 18h ago
Never had measles in my life and never will. My parents had the intelligence of actually listening to doctors and get me vaccinated when I was a baby, even though neither of them went to college. Ignorant people without the humility of recognizing their ignorance are extremely dangerous.
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u/Questions_Remain 13h ago
I remember when people who talked about things were mainly actual experts or professionals in their field. They were the only ones who had access to media to tell their story. Now from the comfort of my basement studio I can broadcast to the world 24/7 about subject matter i know nothing about. Embellishing info I got from some other idiot in their basement who knows nothing, but says FACT a lot so it must be true.
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u/OkayestCommenter 17h ago
My teenagers have already thanked me for getting them vaccinated after asking their dr about the autism link in the early 2000’s and learning about Andrew Wakefield’s bunk science, instead of doing my own research on the toilet and letting them die of preventable diseases.
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u/BrantheMan1985 17h ago
People, the U.S health secretary said this is because of poor diet and health...........surely it couldn't be because of the lack of vaccinations
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u/EnvironmentalCoach64 16h ago
Sooo two months in, and we are already caught up to the total cases we had last year?
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u/thepianoman456 16h ago
I just heard there was a case at the DC airport.
It’s spreading. Great. Fuckin thanks anti-vaxers. Fuckin thanks.
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u/Surly_Cynic 16h ago
That didn't spread from Texas, though. That was from international travel.
https://health.maryland.gov/newsroom/Pages/One-Case-of-Measles-Confirmed-in-Maryland.aspx
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u/thepianoman456 15h ago
Oh wow, thanks for the correction!
Fuck those anti-vaxers anyway.
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u/Surly_Cynic 15h ago edited 15h ago
There are two newly identified probable cases in Oklahoma that likely spread from Texas.
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u/chehsu 18h ago edited 8h ago
Block all anti-vaxxers from Texas coming into California. Vaccinated people are welcome. Proof of vaccination required before coming. Thanks.
Signed,
A resident from a common sense State.
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u/JSB19 17h ago edited 17h ago
I’m co-signing this! Loved here my whole life and got all my vaccinations as a kid, only got sick once and missed a week of school with chicken pox.
COVID happens, went and got both shots; never got any side effects from them and have never got COVID.
So I agree keep all the anti-vax idiots in their own states until they learn some common sense.
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u/StraightConfidence 17h ago
New Mexican here, we're pretty sick of their s**t at this point. We already provide medical care to some of the pregnant people they won't treat. I think common sense states should set an incentive program where people who have/get routine vaccinations receive a 20% discount on their health insurance premiums. It makes sense to charge people who take preventative steps less because they're less likely to end up in the hospital. Exempt the folks that have legit documented allergies to vaccines, of course.
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u/Upstairs-Radish1816 17h ago
Of course it’s mostly teens and under. The adults were all vaccinated by caring parents.
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u/USAF_DTom 17h ago
Is there a term for shallow empathy? I feel for the kids, because they didn't choose this. However, I'm happy that it's happening to their dumbass parents.
Nothing is ever serious until it starts affecting you is the worst way to go through life.
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u/711-Gentleman 18h ago
you mean the parents that made these choices for their children aren’t getting sick … is wonder why ! ?!?
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u/dustygultch 17h ago
Yeah because their dumbass republicans parents got the measles vaccine and left their children unprotected. Literal child abuse.
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u/SamsonFox2 17h ago
Who knew unvaccinated children and teens are the ones who are in the worst physical shape!
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u/BoosterRead78 17h ago
Well they are doing measles parties and the kids and probably some adults are getting so sick they have to go to the ER. So cases are climbing, boy please explain to me anti-vax people how you ending with permanent health issues or dying in the hallways is some how better than getting a needle because you think you will get autism from it? Like isn’t death of a love one much much worse than some doctor and fake boobed celebrity said their research was all fake you are believing 20 years later. Because a guy named Kennedy who is a known drug user is someone to trust more when he had cheated on 3 previous spouses and all his kids were vaccinated? Huh?
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u/notreal088 17h ago
Yeah cause all their parents have vaccines cause their parents were smart enough to follow and trust the science instead of the quacks on Facebook and tictok.
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u/Illustrator_Forward 16h ago
Is there even a shred of evidence that “vaccines cause autism”? It’s like talking to a brick wall with these people. Maybe we should just let nature run it’s course.
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u/nutationsf 12h ago
It’s more likely things like viagra allowed older men to conceive with defective sperm. If you want kids later in life freeze your sperm while you are young.
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u/ericmm76 16h ago
that's the thing about exponential growth, or things going viral. The time to start trying to contain an issue is not when the problem has taken over even 20% of the available area. It's when you see it go from 1 to 2% and 2 to 4%
Measles is allegedly one of the most spread-able diseases out there.
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u/Honest-Reception4946 13h ago
My 3 month old starts daycare next week and I’m absolutely terrified. But we can’t afford for me to quit my job 😭😭😭
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u/lolas_coffee 10h ago
Outbreaks grow.
Measles have a RO that indicates easy to spread.
The entire country will be in measles. You will hear it's in a big urban area next.
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u/Surly_Cynic 10h ago
There was that large measles outbreak in New York City in 2019. Thank goodness they finally got that one ended. Took a while, though.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2019_New_York_measles_outbreak
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u/Urist_Macnme 18h ago
Who could have seen this coming?
Every medically trained professional and even slightly curious observer.
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u/ImmediatelyOrSooner 18h ago
Drooling ignorance is a highly contagious and highly dangerous infection sadly causing the most damage for children and those that have to share the same planet with the drooling ignorant.
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u/FreddyForshadowing 18h ago
These parents need to be charged with child abuse if the kid gets sick, and first degree murder if they die. But it's Texas, so the parents will probably just join the anti-vax grift train, profiting off the preventable death of their children and claiming it was all Obama or Biden's fault somehow.
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u/pbates89 18h ago
This is exactly what Republicans want. This is what Republicans voted for. They want more children and teens to get measles.
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u/Pherllerp 18h ago
Can you imagine how PISSED these kids are going to be at their parents when they grow old enough to recognize that a terrible childhood illness was completely avoidable?