WASHINGTON -- Gov. Chris Christie (R-N.J.) caused a stir on Monday after he called for “balance” on the issue of vaccinating children against disease. (For the record, the scientific community overwhelmingly supports childhood vaccinations, and there is virtually no evidence that the measles vaccine is unsafe.) Since Christie's views are now making the rounds, we thought it would be worth looking at what some other possible 2016 White House contenders have had to say. Here's where some of the most prominent pols stand on the issue:
RICK PERRY
In 2007, then-Gov. Rick Perry (R-Texas) became the first governor in the nation to sign a bill requiring young girls to get a vaccine against the human papillomavirus, or HPV. A conservative backlash forced Perry to reverse course. He later called the order “a mistake” and acquiesced to the Texas legislature, which overturned the bill.
“The fact of the matter is that I didn’t do my research well enough to understand that we needed to have a substantial conversation with our citizenry,” Perry said during his 2012 run for president.
In 2014, Texas Republicans enshrined their victory in the party platform.
"All adult citizens should have the legal right to conscientiously choose which vaccines are administered to themselves, or their minor children, without penalty for refusing a vaccine," the document states. "We oppose any effort by any authority to mandate such vaccines or any medical database that would contain personal records of citizens without their consent."
RAND PAUL
"I'm not anti-vaccine at all... I think there are times in which there can be some rules, but for the most part it ought to be voluntary," Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), a physician, said Monday on Laura Ingraham's radio show.
Paul specifically mentioned Perry's mandate of the HPV vaccine. "While I think it's a good idea to take the vaccine, I think that's a personal decision for individuals to take," Paul said.
He also chose to wait on some vaccines for his own children.
"I didn't like them getting 10 vaccines at once, so I actually delayed my kids' vaccines and had them staggered over time," he said.
For at least 20 years, Paul was a member of a conservative doctors' group that opposes mandatory vaccinations. (It's not clear whether Paul is still part of the group today. Paul's office didn't immediately respond to a request for comment on the matter.)
CARLY FIORINA
The former Hewlett-Packard CEO and onetime Republican Senate candidate for California said in a recent interview that she believes in vaccinating children for measles, but thinks parents ought to be given some flexibility in the matter.
“I think vaccinating for measles makes a lot of sense. But that’s me. I do think parents have to make those choices. I mean, I got measles as a kid. We used to all get measles... I got chicken pox, I got measles, I got mumps,” Fiorina told BuzzFeed.
MIKE HUCKABEE
After former Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) attacked Perry for his HPV policies, suggesting the vaccine could cause mental retardation and put "little children's lives at risk," former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee (R) chided Bachmann for going out on a limb.
“She landed some hard blows on Perry over his aborted cervical cancer vaccine program in Texas. But she went a little too far afterward in saying that a woman told her that her daughter developed mental retardation after getting that vaccine," Huckabee said on his radio show in 2011, according to the Los Angeles Times. "That raised a howl of protest from doctors who've been piling up stacks of research showing no links between vaccinations and serious brain problems.”
BEN CARSON
Ben Carson, a retired neurosurgeon and outspoken conservative, is the chairman of the board of a company called Vaccinogen, which is working to make a vaccine for colon cancer.
“I believe that Vaccinogen has developed the first truly personalized -- and potentially commercializable -- approach to combat cancer and that is why I’m joining the Board and accepting the role of Chairman,” Carson said in a 2013 statement.
RICK SANTORUM
In 2006, then-Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.) co-sponsored a bill providing nearly $1 billion in funding for autism research, screening and education efforts. It also increased resources for early diagnosis and treatment in children. The bill was signed into law by President George W. Bush.
Santorum also drew the ire of Don Imus, the radio host and anti-vaccine advocate, by dismissing the idea that vaccines are dangerous.
“It was really bad because he was unwilling to put in all environmental factors, including vaccines, and I remember him pulling us aside and saying he couldn't do that because he said, 'You're killing me because I'm going to lose all my money.' Pharmaceutical companies and the energy company back him,” Imus said of Santorum on his show in February 2012.
SCOTT WALKER
Gov. Scott Walker (R-Wis.) has worked with Hallmark to continue a program that sends cards to new parents urging them to vaccinate their infants.
JOHN KASICH
Gov. John Kasich (R-Ohio) issued an executive order last year allowing pharmacists to administer the MMR vaccine after outbreaks of mumps and measles in the state.
DONALD TRUMP
Donald Trump, the perennial not-really-a-candidate, would like everyone to remember that "tiny children are not horses."
HILLARY CLINTON
As a presidential candidate in 2008, Hillary Clinton said in a campaign questionnaire that she was “committed to make investments to find the causes of autism, including possible environmental causes like vaccines.”
This past Sunday, President Barack Obama encouraged parents to “get your kids vaccinated," but he, too, once spoke about the need to investigate the possibility of a link between vaccines and autism -- a theory that is now widely discredited.
“We’ve seen just a skyrocketing autism rate. Some people are suspicious that it’s connected to the vaccines. This person included. The science right now is inconclusive, but we have to research it,” said Obama at a rally in April 2008. It's not entirely clear whether Obama was referring to himself when he said “this person.”
In 2009, Obama committed $300 million to “ensure more underserved Americans receive the vaccines they need” via the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
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RICK PERRY
In 2007, then-Gov. Rick Perry (R-Texas) became the first governor in the nation to sign a bill requiring young girls to get a vaccine against the human papillomavirus, or HPV. A conservative backlash forced Perry to reverse course. He later called the order “a mistake” and acquiesced to the Texas legislature, which overturned the bill.
“The fact of the matter is that I didn’t do my research well enough to understand that we needed to have a substantial conversation with our citizenry,” Perry said during his 2012 run for president.
In 2014, Texas Republicans enshrined their victory in the party platform.
"All adult citizens should have the legal right to conscientiously choose which vaccines are administered to themselves, or their minor children, without penalty for refusing a vaccine," the document states. "We oppose any effort by any authority to mandate such vaccines or any medical database that would contain personal records of citizens without their consent."
RAND PAUL
"I'm not anti-vaccine at all... I think there are times in which there can be some rules, but for the most part it ought to be voluntary," Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), a physician, said Monday on Laura Ingraham's radio show.
Paul specifically mentioned Perry's mandate of the HPV vaccine. "While I think it's a good idea to take the vaccine, I think that's a personal decision for individuals to take," Paul said.
He also chose to wait on some vaccines for his own children.
"I didn't like them getting 10 vaccines at once, so I actually delayed my kids' vaccines and had them staggered over time," he said.
For at least 20 years, Paul was a member of a conservative doctors' group that opposes mandatory vaccinations. (It's not clear whether Paul is still part of the group today. Paul's office didn't immediately respond to a request for comment on the matter.)
CARLY FIORINA
The former Hewlett-Packard CEO and onetime Republican Senate candidate for California said in a recent interview that she believes in vaccinating children for measles, but thinks parents ought to be given some flexibility in the matter.
“I think vaccinating for measles makes a lot of sense. But that’s me. I do think parents have to make those choices. I mean, I got measles as a kid. We used to all get measles... I got chicken pox, I got measles, I got mumps,” Fiorina told BuzzFeed.
MIKE HUCKABEE
After former Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) attacked Perry for his HPV policies, suggesting the vaccine could cause mental retardation and put "little children's lives at risk," former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee (R) chided Bachmann for going out on a limb.
“She landed some hard blows on Perry over his aborted cervical cancer vaccine program in Texas. But she went a little too far afterward in saying that a woman told her that her daughter developed mental retardation after getting that vaccine," Huckabee said on his radio show in 2011, according to the Los Angeles Times. "That raised a howl of protest from doctors who've been piling up stacks of research showing no links between vaccinations and serious brain problems.”
BEN CARSON
Ben Carson, a retired neurosurgeon and outspoken conservative, is the chairman of the board of a company called Vaccinogen, which is working to make a vaccine for colon cancer.
“I believe that Vaccinogen has developed the first truly personalized -- and potentially commercializable -- approach to combat cancer and that is why I’m joining the Board and accepting the role of Chairman,” Carson said in a 2013 statement.
RICK SANTORUM
In 2006, then-Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.) co-sponsored a bill providing nearly $1 billion in funding for autism research, screening and education efforts. It also increased resources for early diagnosis and treatment in children. The bill was signed into law by President George W. Bush.
Santorum also drew the ire of Don Imus, the radio host and anti-vaccine advocate, by dismissing the idea that vaccines are dangerous.
“It was really bad because he was unwilling to put in all environmental factors, including vaccines, and I remember him pulling us aside and saying he couldn't do that because he said, 'You're killing me because I'm going to lose all my money.' Pharmaceutical companies and the energy company back him,” Imus said of Santorum on his show in February 2012.
SCOTT WALKER
Gov. Scott Walker (R-Wis.) has worked with Hallmark to continue a program that sends cards to new parents urging them to vaccinate their infants.
JOHN KASICH
Gov. John Kasich (R-Ohio) issued an executive order last year allowing pharmacists to administer the MMR vaccine after outbreaks of mumps and measles in the state.
DONALD TRUMP
Donald Trump, the perennial not-really-a-candidate, would like everyone to remember that "tiny children are not horses."
HILLARY CLINTON
As a presidential candidate in 2008, Hillary Clinton said in a campaign questionnaire that she was “committed to make investments to find the causes of autism, including possible environmental causes like vaccines.”
This past Sunday, President Barack Obama encouraged parents to “get your kids vaccinated," but he, too, once spoke about the need to investigate the possibility of a link between vaccines and autism -- a theory that is now widely discredited.
“We’ve seen just a skyrocketing autism rate. Some people are suspicious that it’s connected to the vaccines. This person included. The science right now is inconclusive, but we have to research it,” said Obama at a rally in April 2008. It's not entirely clear whether Obama was referring to himself when he said “this person.”
In 2009, Obama committed $300 million to “ensure more underserved Americans receive the vaccines they need” via the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
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