Kat Von D is someone who isn’t afraid to court controversy, and she did it again with her recent claims about the dangers of vaccination.
According to the Daily Mail , the tattoo artist-turned-makeup maven said that she believes that vaccines “aren’t safe,” and that she will raise her baby on a vegan diet to protect the baby’s immune system.
Kat Von D made the announcement on Instagram, where she also said that she’d be doing an all-natural home birth with no drugs involved.
The entrepreneur, who is expecting her first child with her new husband, Leafer Sayer, said that she didn’t accept “unsolicited parenting advice” from fans who were outraged about her claims that vaccines aren’t safe.
She went on to say that she felt victimized and judged because she was a “pregnant, openly vegan” woman on Instagram. She said that she “already knows” what it’s like to make choices that aren’t always accepted by the mainstream, and she wasn’t going to change her mind because of a few comments on Instagram that tried to “shame” her into doing what others felt was right.
While many fans applauded her commitment to her health and her baby’s health, they drew the line at her anti-vax stance.
“That is not a ‘my kid, my choice’ thing; you are actively putting other people at risk when you don’t vaccinate your child,” wrote one fan on her Instagram.
While Kat Von D is not the first person to refuse to vaccinate her child, the CDC is warning that the “anti-vax” movement is actively threatening the health of the next generation of children.
Prior to the existence of several vaccines — including diphtheria, tetanus, and Hib flu (which leads to meningitis) — thousands of children would die every year from diseases that were, ultimately, preventable.
Off to our secret undisclosed destination for our meditative “honeymoon”…. con todo el amor en este mundo, y un million de besos! ?? pic.twitter.com/dckb6hhwb4
— Kat Von D (@thekatvond) June 6, 2018
According to a doctor from the Mayo Clinic, who spoke to the Daily Mail , the strength of the many of these vaccines depends on “herd immunity,” meaning that 90 percent of the population needs to be vaccinated for the vaccine to work properly. So, the fewer children are vaccinated against a disease, the less potent the vaccine is, and the more likely children are going to be exposed to deadly diseases.
What’s more, even vaccinated children will be subjected to these deadly illnesses thanks to these “anti-vaxxers,” because the vaccine they’ve received is not as potent as it should be.
8 more days until our wedding. ?? pic.twitter.com/ddxGWD0w0L
— Kat Von D (@thekatvond) May 26, 2018
So, in short, Kat Von D and other anti-vaxxers are putting both their children and other children, at risk.