(“Vaccinations are a potential cause of autism; the secret you are not meant to know.”)

In February, the party proposed a law against the current requirement in Italy to vaccinate children for polio, tetanus, diphtheria and Hepatitis B. Along with France, Belgium, Portugal and Greece, Italy is one of five European countries with compulsory vaccination.

While in March the government of Italy answered to the resurgence of measles by setting up a commission to monitor the vaccination efforts, Grillo’s movement keeps attacking vaccinations in parliament, online and in the party’s”meetups.” According to the movement members, the side effects of vaccines go beyond autism: Paolo Vanoli, the spokesperson for health and environment of MoVimento 5 Stelle, declared that vaccinations can cause homosexuality which is, he says, a curable disease.

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