SUCCESS: Sherri Tenpenny's anti-vax tour of lies has finally been cancelled.

Update:

The Australian tour of outspoken anti-vaccination campaigner Sherri Tenpenny — an osteopathic doctor who believes vaccines cause autism, asthma, ADHD and auto-immune disorders — has now officially been cancelled.

” Ms. Stephanie Messenger and Dr. Sherri Tenpenny have jointly decided to cancel the speaking appearances scheduled for Brisbane, Sydney, Adelaide, Melbourne and Gold Coast,” a Facebook post on Tenpenny’s official Facebook page last night said. “Additional options are being considered but not confirmed at this time.”

While the tour had already been thrown into chaos after all venues for the tours pulled out — meaning the tour had effectively been cancelled anyway —  a post on Tenpenny’s official Facebook page last night formalised the decision.

The post said the “determination made to protect the speakers, the public and the venue owners” after receiving “continual, anonymous threats of vandalism and violence”.

She did not specify what the alleged threats were or when they had taken place.

Tenpenny added in the post: “I was coming to speak as an invited guest. However, given the level of hostility that has transpired over the last three weeks, and for the sake of my own personal safety, I have also cancelled my planned vacation in Australia.”

While obviously violence or threats of violence are unacceptable in any circumstance, pro-vaccination advocates can take comfort in the fact that Tenpenny will no longer be spreading her dangerous, anti-science lies in Australia.

Previously, Mamamia wrote…

Pressure is mounting against a planned speaking tour by American anti-vaccination campaigner Sherri Tenpenny, with nine of eleven venues now refusing to host her $200 per head seminar.

The Sydney Morning Herald has described her tour as being “in tatters”.

Dr Tenpenny, an osteopathic doctor who believes vaccines cause autism, asthma, ADHD and auto-immune disorders, is planning a series of lectures against vaccination in March aimed at parents of babies.

Two venues, Michael’s Oriental Restaurant and Function Centre (an Asian restaurant in Brisbane) and Rydges Hotel in Adelaide, are still scheduled to host Ms Tenpenny’s talks.

“We’re monitoring it and haven’t made a decision one way or another,” a Rydges Hotel spokeswoman told the SMH. The Brisbane restaurant did not respond to inquiries.

Tour organiser and anti-vaccination campaigner Stephanie Messenger told the SMH that the decision to cancel amounted to “bullying”. Ms Messenger is the author of a children’s book called, Melanie’s Marvellous Measles a picture book that extols the virtues of being infected with infectious diseases.

Ms Messenger’s book, which was removed from the sale of a national book store after community outrage in 2011. The story includes a mother in the story telling her child that “for most children it is a good thing to get measles” and telling her daughter it would be a “great idea” to deliberately catch them.

What it’s like to grow up unvaccinated.

Mamamia and others have called on Immigration Minister Peter Dutton to deny the anti-vaccination campaigner a visa to speak in Australia.

A spokesperson for Minister Dutton did not respond to Fairfax’s request for comment, but has previously indicated that the Minister is taking advice on the issue.

This woman is a danger to children. And she’s coming to Australia. 

Meanwhile, in the US this week, the happiest place on earth, Disneyland, became the unhappiest when public health officials in California and Utah confirmed nine cases of the potentially deadly disease.

The youngest patient to be infected was just eight months old.

Measles, one of the leading causes of death for children around the world, begins with a fever, sore red eyes, and a rash which appears after three or four days. It usually lasts several weeks and can have serious side effects including pneumonia and encephalitis.

A vaccine for Measles, Mumps and Rubella (MMR) exists and is highly effective.

A harrowing and heartbreaking look at what whooping cough is REALLY like.

While anti-vaccination advocates spread propaganda suggesting there are dangers associated with the vaccine, a recent study led by the University of Sydney established beyond a shadow of a doubt that there is no link between autism and vaccines.

• Look at this: the devastating effects of anti-vaxxers on our world.  
• 9 vaccination myths busted. With science!
• The clearest argument for just how mad the anti-vaccination movement is. 

This is a gallery of common myths about vaccines being harmful and why they’re wrong. It includes some good arguments to use when you’re faced with anti-vaccination rhetoric.

Please share this post with friends and family who believe in science and support vaccinations to keep our community safe.