Fact check about Amish
Yes, Amish children can have autism, cancer and diabetes | Fact check
The claim: A new study discovered no cases of autism, cancer or diabetes in Amish children A July 10 Instagram post (direct link, archive link) shows a screenshot of a headline that claims a range of diagnoses are absent in a certain religious population.
“New Study Discovers No Amish Children Diagnosed with Cancer, Diabetes or Autism,” reads the headline. The post received more than 16,000 likes in one day. Other versions of the claim were shared thousands of more times.
Our rating: False
The Amish Heritage Foundation told USA TODAY there are cases of Amish children with each of the listed conditions. A researcher who focuses on the Amish community highlighted news articles and studies showing Amish children are not immune from cancer, autism or diabetes.
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The headline is a screenshot of an article by the right-wing website Leading Report. The full article describes a “new comprehensive study” presented by entrepreneur and misinformation purveyor Steve Kirsch to the Pennsylvania State Senate. It claims the study said “that for Amish children, who are strictly 100 percent unvaccinated, typical chronic conditions barely exist, if any at all.”
In reality, the article was referring to Kirsch’s statement to the Medical Freedom Panel hosted by Pennsylvania Republican Sen. Doug Mastriano on June 9. He did not present any “comprehensive study,” but rather provided anecdotal evidence of lower rates of COVID-19 in the Amish community and claimed unvaccinated children are generally healthier than vaccinated children. He made no claim of a study finding zero cases of the conditions among the Amish.
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Erik Wesner, a researcher on Amish communities who founded the Amish America website, said the social media posts present a “pretty bold claim that just does not really match reality in any way.” He referenced the case of Sarah Herschberger, a young Amish girl with cancer who went into hiding with her family in the midst of a court case that sought to force her to have chemotherapy against her family’s wishes, as reported by the Columbus Dispatch, as well as a 1972 study that identified Amish children with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. Studies from 2009 and 2010 also identify Amish children on the autism spectrum. Torah Bontrager, founder of the Amish Heritage Foundation, said there is “absolutely no validity” to claims that Amish children do not have such conditions. Bontrager, who was born and raised in an Amish family but left the religion as a teenager, said she personally knows Amish children with each of the listed conditions.
She described contrary claims as “anti-Amish tropes.”
“It marginalizes us Amish people and contributes further harm toward Amish children who need medical care and attention,” she said. “Those issues are not actually attended to because the general public believes what this supposed researcher is saying and we just fall through the cracks.” She said cultural and educational barriers can make it difficult to conduct legitimate studies of the Amish population, and any claims made about the Amish community should be closely scrutinized.
USA TODAY previously debunked a claim that COVID-19 does not affect Amish communities and the suggestion that vaccines cause autism and other conditions.
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