Stephanie Messenger

Stephanie Frances Bailey (born 26 July 1970), more commonly known by the Australian Registered Business Name Stephanie Messenger, is an anti-vaccination activist, lecturer and author from Brisbane, Australia who believes her son was killed by vaccination.

The Herald Sun says that Messenger's statements are not based on science and she never offers proof of her statements or names of doctors that support her. Messenger states that her three remaining children are unvaccinated and are very healthy, she says sunshine and healthy food will protect them, while the Herald Sun says "She also argues that her unvaccinated children have never had any serious illnesses. I wonder if she realises this is because vaccination programs (of which she refuses to be a part) have eradicated many diseases that claimed so many lives in the past. Her children are also benefiting from the sensible precautions taken by the rest of us." The book came to attention in 2015 after the Disneyland measles outbreak began during December of the previous year. Many commentators have criticised the book because of the dangers associated with contracting measles, and because its title is reminiscent of George's Marvellous Medicine, by Roald Dahl, whose daughter, Olivia Dahl, died from measles, leading Dahl to become a vociferous campaigner for immunisation. The book has also received attention for the numerous negative reviews it has received on Amazon.com. The Herald Sun stated that Messenger's book is very dangerous and should be "avoided like the plague".

Failed tour by Tenpenny In 2014, Messenger organised a lecture tour in Australia for American physician and anti-vaccine activist Sherri Tenpenny called 'Healthy Lifestyles Naturally'. Messenger stated that cancelling the lectures would set a bad precedent as people need to be informed and have all sides presented in order to make good parenting decisions. She said that visas should not be cancelled for someone who has done nothing wrong. "All of Dr Tenpenny's information is referenced by medical and scientific papers ... so I don't know what they're trying to stop the people from seeing."

In January 2015, the Kareela Golf and Social Club in Sydney, Australia cancelled a talk that Tenpenny had been scheduled to give there. A spokesperson for the club said that the subject matter Tenpenny was going to discuss was "too controversial for us to be involved in." Several other Australian venues followed suit soon afterward, which led Meryl Dorey of anti-vaccination lobby group the Australian Vaccination-Skeptics Network to compare opponents of Tenpenny's visits to Australia to the perpetrators of the Charlie Hebdo shooting. By January 19, all eight venues at which Tenpenny was originally scheduled to speak had cancelled her seminars. Virologist David Hawkes responds to the cancellation of the lecture series by saying it "was a win for people who were concerned about public health...." "It has been driven by parents generally at a community level who were concerned about the emergence of diseases like whooping cough in the last few years due to less than ideal vaccination rates." In an email to her supporters in April 2015, Messenger asks, "If everyone just purchased one of my books, imagine how quickly I can be out of debt for the cancelled Dr Sherri Tenpenny tour."

Skeptic Zone reporter, Jo Alabaster stated that she has received a full refund for the lecture she was to attend. In an appearance on The Project on 6 January 2015, Rachael Dunlop said, "Of course parents have the right to be concerned about a medical procedure, but overwhelmingly they need access to accurate, science-based information – and this is not what they will get from Doctor Tenpenny."

Flier campaign

In December 2017, Messenger, in a post to her followers, encouraged them to distribute a pamphlet titled "Vaccines Killed My Baby" which details the story of her child's death. Messenger says the purpose of this pamphlet is not to "preac to the converted" and provide more information on "autism, vaccine pregnancy, HPV, baby vax ingredients and side effects, flu vax, corruption in science and media, reliable websites to go to, etc." so that "we educate our kids before the government does it for you". In this post, Messenger said she had 160 people ready to put 1000 fliers in letterboxes in their area. She plans on distributing a total of 500,000 fliers total.

According to Heidi Robinson with the Northern Rivers Vaccination Supporters, fliers were found in suburbs of Brisbane, the Sunshine Coast, Canberra, the Northern Territory, and the Northern Rivers. In 2010, it received charitable status which was revoked on 1 April 2015 by the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC). The ACNC was unable to comment due to privacy reasons but they issued the statement that it "had been revoked 'following a review into the organisation's operations and activities'." "The National Sids Council of Australia has said that 'rigorously conducted, scientifically based research has concluded that there is no evidence to support the link between wrapping mattresses and the prevention of Sids.'"

Selected works

Sarah Visits a Naturopath – (self-published) Vegetarian Muscles – (self-published) Don't Bully Billy (self-published) Goodbye Grandma (self-published)