The U.S. Centers for Disease Control has updated its website with anti-vaccine messaging that links childhood vaccines with autism, without citing any scientific evidence.

“This webpage has been updated because the statement ‘Vaccines do not cause autism’ is not an evidence-based claim,” the CDC website on vaccines and autism now reads, as of Wednesday, Nov. 19. “Scientific studies have not ruled out the possibility that infant vaccines contribute to the development of autism.” 

However, elsewhere on the CDC website, the organization definitively states that “Scientific studies and reviews continue to show no relationship between vaccines and autism.” [Emphasis theirs.]

In the updated page, the agency now claims that “studies supporting a link have been ignored by health authorities.”

The agency cites a poll of parents of children with autism, where half the parents surveyed said they believe their children’s diagnosis is connected to vaccines administered during infancy. “It is possible that the timing of an autism diagnosis or onset of autism symptoms might coincide with the recommended vaccine schedule for children, but this is a coincidence, not a cause,” advocacy group Autism Speaks said.

That’s because childhood vaccines are administered at the same time as some children begin to display symptoms of autism, according to the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, with some children showing signs of autism as early as 12 months.

Some children with autism may also begin to regress — that is, ”stop using language, play, or social skills that they’ve already learned,” like making eye contact or smiling — between their first and second years of life, per the NICHD.

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The CDC’s website also references a 2014 study that suggested environmental factors may contribute to autism, listing lead, pesticides, and aluminum in vaccines as potential causes. 

“HHS has launched a comprehensive assessment of the causes of autism, including investigations on plausible biologic mechanisms and potential causal links,” the new text says, and goes on to imply that health authorities downplayed a link to autism “to prevent vaccine hesitancy.”

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has a long history of anti-vaccine views and sharing falsehoods about vaccines. He has falsely claimed that the MMR vaccine — a two-shot vaccine that protects against measles, mumps, and rubella — contains “fetus debris.”

Kennedy has also made wide-ranging claims about people with autism, calling the condition an “epidemic” and claiming people with autism will “never pay taxes. They’ll never hold a job. They’ll never play baseball. They’ll never write a poem. They’ll never go out on a date. Many of them will never use a toilet unassisted.” 

The change to the CDC website immediately sparked a backlash in the medical community.The President of the American Academy of Pediatrics issued a statement criticizing the change.

“The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website has been changed to promote false information suggesting vaccines cause autism. Since 1998, independent researchers across seven countries have conducted more than 40 high-quality studies involving over 5.6 million people,” Dr. Susan J. Kressly said in a statement.

“The conclusion is clear and unambiguous: There’s no link between vaccines and autism. Anyone repeating this harmful myth is misinformed or intentionally trying to mislead parents. We call on the CDC to stop wasting government resources to amplify false claims that sow doubt in one of the best tools we have to keep children healthy and thriving: routine immunizations,” Kressly continued. “The American Academy of Pediatrics stands with members of the autism community who have asked for support in stopping this rumor from spreading any further.”

The Autism Science Foundation released a statement saying it was “appalled” by the CDC’s updated language: “

The science is clear that vaccines do not cause autism. No environmental factor has been better studied as a potential cause of autism than vaccines,” ASF president Alison Singer said. “This includes vaccine ingredients as well as the body’s response to vaccines. All this research has determined that there is no link between autism and vaccines. The facts don’t change because the administration does.”