This is one anti-vaccine message that definitely goes too far.
An ad that apparently compares vaccinations to rape was promoted on social media pages belonging to the Australian Vaccination-Skeptic Network (AVSNI) on Wednesday, The Australian Women's Weekly reported.
The ad, shown below, is titled, "Forced Penetration," and it shows a man putting his hand over a woman's mouth.
It then says, "Really — no big deal, if it's just a vaccination needle, and he's a doctor. Do you really 'need' control over your own choices?"
The ad no longer appears on AVSNI's Facebook page.
The organization is facing an angry backlash online, with critics calling it a "new low" for a group that has made similar comparisons before, according to The Sydney Morning Herald.
In 2011, AVSNI issued a tweet comparing a court that ordered for a five-year-old girl to be vaccinated to a "court order[ed] rape of a child."
Commenter Rachelle Taylor warned at the time that such rhetoric could be "very triggering for victims of sexual assault."
The new ad came after the Australian government announced a "no jab, no pay" policy in which it would cut child benefits to parents who refuse to vaccinate their kids.
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