Thank you, Chairman Alexander, senator Murray,
and distinguished committee members
for the opportunity to speak today.
Good morning, everyone.
As I stated, my name is Ethan Lindenberger,
and I'm a senior in Norwalk High School,
and my mother is an anti-vax advocate
who believes vaccines cause autism, brain damage,
and do not benefit the health and safety of society
despite the fact such opinions have been debunked numerous times
by the scientific community.
I went my entire life without numerous vaccines
against diseases such as measles, chicken pox, or even polio.
However, in December of 2018,
I began catching up on my missed immunizations
despite my mother's disapproval,
eventually leading to a story and being able to speak here today,
and I'm very happy for that, so thank you.
Now, to understand why I've come here and what I reallly want to talk about,
I have to share some details about my home life, my upbringing.
I grew up understanding my mother's beliefs
that vaccines are dangerous,
and she would speak openly about these views.
Both online and in-person,
she would voice her concerns,
and these beliefs were met with strong criticism.
Over the course of my life, seeds of doubts were planted,
and questions arose
because of the backslash my mother would receive.
But overtime that didn't really lead anywhere.
Now, it's important to understand
that as I approached high school
and began to critically think for myself,
I saw that information in defense of vaccines
outweighed the concerns heavily.
I began leading debate clubs in my school
and pursuing truth above all else,
and I realized one certain quality to debates
and to conversations in general
when it comes to the controversial discussions
which is that there seems always be two sides to a discussion.
There always seems to be a counterclaim or rebuttal
and always something to strike back with in terms of debate.
Though this may seem true in all essences,
this is not true for the vaccine debate,
and I approached my mother with this concern
that she was incorrect.
I approached my mother numerous times,
trying to explain that vaccines are safe, and that I should be vaccinated.
Approaching even with articles from the CDC
exquisitely claiming that ideas that vaccines cause autism
and extremely dangerous consequences
were incorrect.
In one such instance where I approached my mother
with information from the CDC that claims vaccines do not cause autism,
she responded that that's what they want you to think.
Skepticism and worry were taking the forefront in terms of information.
Now, conversations like these reaffirmed
that evidence in defense of vaccines
was at least, on anecdotal level,
much greater than the deeply rooted misinformation
my mother interacted with,
and that's what I want to focus on today.
To combat preventable disease outbreaks,
information is, in my mind, the forefront of this matter.
My mother would turn to anti-vaccine groups online and on social media
looking for her evidence and defense
rather than health officials and through credible sources.
This may seem to be a malice
because of the dangerous that not vaccinating imposes,
but this is not the case.
My mother came in the sense of loving her children
and being concerned.
This misinformation spreads,
and that's not necessarily justifiable.
But I carry this knowledge with me that
it was with respect and love that I disagreed with my mother.
And with the information she provided,
I continue to try and explain that it was misinformed.
Ideas, again, that vaccines cause autism, brain damage,
and also that the measles outbreak
is of no concern to the society and to America,
where ideas that were pushed by the sources that she would go to.
And for certain individuals and organizations
that spread this misinformation,
they instill fear into the public for their own gain selfishly
and do so knowing that the information is incorrect.
For my mother, her love, affection and care of parent
was used to push an agenda to create a false distress,
and these sources which spread misinformation
should be the primary concern of the American people.
Although changes are already placed, and more tries can be done,
almost 80% of people, according to Pew Research Center,
turn to the internet for health related questions.
I further explained more statistics and evidences in my written testimony.
Now, in terms of what I would like to walk away with today
and kind of finalize with.
Although my mother would turn to very illegitimate sources
that did not have peer-reviewed evidence or information,
I could clearly saw the evidences and claims for myself
were not accurate,
and because of that,
and the health care professionals I was able to speak with,
and the information provided to me,
I was able to make clear, concise, and scientific decision.
Approaching this issue with the concern of education
and addressing misinformation properly
can cause change, as it did for me.
Now, although the debate around vaccines
is not necessarily centered on information and concern for health and safety,
this is why education is important and also misinformation is so dangerous.
Subtitles by Maurício Kakuei Tanaka Review by Jenny Lam-Chowdhury