Yes thank GOODNESS we still have Parents, brought to you jointly by Formula & Vaccines.

I’m a subscriber. I loved their tips for imaginative play and articles on natural living and parenting. This comes as quite a shock to me, and it’s very disappointing.

This is very sad. I will definitely miss this magazine.

And as a response to the above link, thanks for posting that “unbiased” article. Yup, BMJ and the Lancet, along with their monetary ties to Merck. *eyeroll* Sheeple.

btw, since I am asking this of Lisa, I should mention some of the things that are offensive about Mothering. First of all, the cover presented in this post has an article entitled “Heal Your Family with Reflexology”. Reflexology is one of those treatments that has no data behind it. Clinical studies have shown no improvement over placebo. However, since it is in the “alternative” category, there is no need to prove efficacy. Therefore, practitioners make an enormous profit. (No need to do anything to introduce the technique to the market, yet can still charge good money.) Saying you can heal anything with this technique is pure quackery, and can result in someone not seeking true medical care for their children.

Never mind that previous issues have told parents to treat pertussis with homeopathy (aka water), and have pushed HIV/AIDS denialism.

Sorry, but there is one major point I’d like to add. There is one thing that offends me the most about Mothering is that, on their website, they actively ban anyone who presents a “pro-vaccine” viewpoint. Seriously. This happened to me, and all I said in the comment was that the data did not show a vaccine-autism link. I then learned that they have a policy to ban anyone with such a viewpoint.

I read lots of science blogs and there are always dissenting comments, but they don’t ban these commenters. Instead, they post the comment and answer in detail and with facts why they do not agree. However, when you don’t have any real data behind your viewpoint, I guess it is just easier to ban any pesky, dissenting views.

“This happened to me, and all I said in the comment was that the data did not show a vaccine-autism link. I then learned that they have a policy to ban anyone with such a viewpoint.” Also, this is blatantly untrue. I don’t generally choose to post on such debates, however, I’ve seen loads of them continue on unfettered on the Mothering website. I have to wonder what you actually said that got you banned, because I don’t believe for a second that it was an innocuous statement like you’re claiming. In fact, I know for a fact that you have to violate the rules of the message board 9 times in a 30 day period in order to have your username suspended, let alone banned. This leads me to think that perhaps you found it appropriate to initiate unwanted debates on what is a natural parenting SUPPORT board. It’s not a DEBATE board where those types of arguments are welcomed.

When I think about all of the parents who found Mothering magazine to be a godsend, when they felt isolated and actually questioning their instincts because they didn’t conform to what the “mainstream” parenting magazines were advising them to do (and yet mostly what to consume for the sake of their little ones), it makes me a little sad to think it’s going away.
But it was always on the fringe for a reason. They dared to Question Authority, and established principles that prevented conflict of interest between the baby industry and the editorial staff, even when it meant higher subscription costs and lower ad revenues. I loved Mothering, because it was clear to me that it was a distillation of mothering and parenting wisdom from actual parents who were child-centered, not following the advice of famous experts with MDs after their name and corporate endorsements. Which seemed mostly designed to raise well-adjusted kids, meaning conforming to the mainstream, don’t think for yourself, success before happiness, kids.
I don’t mourn too loudly, though. Print magazines are on their way out anyway. If they move to a purely online presence, they can continue to serve the parents (and their kids) who know there is more to life than the corporate-sponsored drivel that we find everywhere we turn. I hope so, anyway, for the sake of our collective future. Mothering’s legacy is a more compassionate and loving view of the world passed on to generations of smart, thoughtful, creative people who were once babies.

@Linda F. Palmer: thanks so much for taking the time to share all these links. Whether you agree with them or not, Mothering has done an incredible amount of work in the past and it will be missed by many moms.

Those articles are discussing journal articles — you can easily find them from the texts. They’re just more reader-friendly. There’s plenty more about the Hep B. I’ve given it all enough time though.

@Linda F Palmer – Wow, just, wow. Mercola and NaturalNews and Age of Autism and Fox News? Sorry, but these are blatantly anti-science sources. In particular, the link from Jay Gordon complaining to Frontline about omitting his interview was ridiculous. They did show plenty of anti-vaccine viewpoints, and I know they omitted interviews from some pro-vaccine people too, because they only had so much time and could not include everything. Again, since he has no real data to present he has to find something to complain about.

I know this is something that we won’t be agreeing about anytime soon, but particularly Age of Autism is amazing at twisting data to show what they want. For anyone with an interest in science this is really very scary.

Again, I know for some there is a religious-like belief that modern-medicine is evil, but I’ll stay in this day and age, thank you very much, and have a higher life expectancy because of it.

Laure68, yours is so often the voice of reason in these kinds of discussions and I really thank you for that. I am really pretty tired of the old “big pharma” chestnut people always trot out, as if alternative medicine isn’t ALSO big business. Just because it isn’t as big a business as pharmaceuticals doesn’t mean that the people involved in alternative medicine would not like to be as big. They’re not in it for altruism – they’re not offering their remedies for free – they’re in it to make money, just as all companies that operate in a free market enterprise are. Big pharma, big herbal, if you’re talking about wanting to make money by selling stuff to people they’re pretty much the same. But if you’re talking about results, ability to really treat or to cure or prevent disease, THEN there is a difference, and the clear winner in that case is big pharma. I’m not saying they don’t make mistakes, because they do. But I’m with you in terms of saying a big thank you to the scientists, researchers, and companies that have discovered and produced the things that have contributed a great deal to our longer life expectancies and better quality of life overall. And I’m especially grateful that because of them, my children are INCREDIBLY less likely to die from smallpox, diphtheria, or polio.

I am simply amazed by the amount of hate in the comments here. Last time I checked, Mothering covered many, many topics besides vaccination. Furthermore, Mothering is a private business and they can write whatever they want for whatever audience they wish.

Magazines like “Fishing” cover topics about fishing for people who are interested in fishing. It would make no sense to complain that “Fishing” doesn’t have enough articles on crabbing, or that they don’t welcome the articles of people who catch oysters. That’s not what they are there for. Similarly, Mothering covers topics about attachment parenting for people who are into attachment parenting.

So, if you aren’t into the concepts in Mothering magazine, then DON’T READ IT. If you want to vaccinate your kids with every shot available to man or beast, that is your prerogative, but you’ll have to go read Parenting or some other magazine that supports your views. Please go do that, instead of hating on a publication that has openly stated for the entire length of its existence that it is not for you.