Y'know, it's easy to make fun of celebrities who endorse ridiculous nonsense. Certainly Jenny McCarthy has earned the wrath she's received over vaccines, and Rob Schneider says things that make McCarthy look like an icon of reason. Even Bill Maher, praised on many topics by critical thinkers, says things about vaccinations that make me cringe.
But I think it's just as important to praise celebrities when they do the right thing. I'm a big fan of Amanda Peet, who is an outspoken supporter of actual, true vaccine information, and of Sarah Michelle Gellar as well.
And now I can add to that list actress Kristen Bell. I've always liked her, but now I can add her to my cadre of celebrities I respect. Why? She said this:
"When [my daughter] Lincoln was born, the whooping cough epidemic was growing, and before she was 2 months old, we simply said [to friends], 'You have to get a whooping cough vaccination if you are going to hold our baby.'"
Nice! Simple, straightforward, and makes the message clear. And if that weren't enough, bless her reality-based brain, she went on to say,