�鶹Ů��

When New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie suggested seven months ago, at the height of the Disneyland measles outbreak, that parents should have “a measure of choice” about whether to vaccinate their children, he was widely condemned — and quickly reversed himself. On Wednesday, two GOP presidential candidates who are both medical doctors, Ben Carson and Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), waded into similar territory. This time, the fury rained down from a medical establishment that felt betrayed by its own. ... The notions that vaccines are linked to autism, or should be given in small doses over longer periods of time — both scientifically discredited — appear to be seeping into the Republican mainstream, potentially undermining a long consensus around the role of government in protecting populations from disease. (Allen, 9/17)

Republican presidential candidate Carly Fiorina won applause in Wednesday’s debate for her vivid description of a live fetus she said was shown in an antiabortion group’s undercover video about Planned Parenthood Federation of America. But the image she described isn’t in any of the videos released by the antiabortion group. Instead, one video from the group depicts a former employee of a tissue procurement company stating what she says she saw at a Planned Parenthood clinic. There was never any video that depicted, as Ms. Fiorina stated, a live fetus on a table being prepared for organ harvesting. (Armour, 9/17)

Many of the Republican candidates on the debate stage Wednesday night joined in a full-throated endorsement of Ted Cruz's damn-the-torpedoes strategy to defund Planned Parenthood, even if it means shutting down the federal government. But two candidates who’ll soon be casting votes on the matter were noticeably silent: Sens. Marco Rubio and Rand Paul. (Everett, 9/17)