Vaccine critic : Robert F Kennedy Jr spoke at a documentary screening in Sacramento , California on Tuesday . The son of the late Attorney General Robert Kennedy is a vaccine critic and is currently trying to stop a bill in the state that would make childhood immunizations mandatory . Robert F Kennedy Jr sparked controversy Tuesday when he compared childhood vaccinations to a holocaust . At a screening of the documentary Trace Amounts , the nephew of President John F Kennedy spoke out against a proposed bill in California which would make childhood immunizations mandatory - no matter what their parent 's personal beliefs on the vaccines . The documentary purports that there is a connection between thimerosal - a chemical found in several childhood vaccines - and a rise in autism among American children - despite the majority of the scientific community dismissing any connection . 'They can put anything they want in that vaccine and they have no accountability for it , ' Kennedy said of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention at the Crest Theater stage in Sacramento . 'They get the shot , that night they have a fever of a hundred and three , they go to sleep , and three months later their brain is gone . This is a holocaust , what this is doing to our country , ' Kennedy added . Kennedy said that the documentary helped convince lawmakers in Oregon stop a similar measure in that state , and was hoping it would have a similar effect in California . Anti-vaccine advocates delivered free tickets to the screening to every California lawmaker on Monday , and cordoned off three rows in the theater for them on Tuesday that remained empty . Unpopular opinion : The film screened on Tuesday purports that there is a connection between the vaccine chemical thimerosal and autism , though it is a theory the scientific community has mostly dismissed . Advocate : Kennedy speaks with audience members at the Crest Theater in Sacramento on Tuesday . Senate Bill 277 was scheduled to have its first hearing Wednesday in front of the Senate Health Committee . If passed , the law will remove an exemption in the vaccination law that currently allows parents to cite personal beliefs in not vaccinating their children . The anti-vaccination movement has been sweeping the country , and with more parents refusing common immunizations , many long-dormant illnesses like measles and whooping cough are breaking out in schools . Senator Richard Pan , a Democrat from Sacramento and a pediatrician , called Kennedy 's endorsement of the anti-vaccine cause as dangerous . ' I think it is dangerous that he is spreading misinformation about something that ’ s very important for public health , ' Senator Pan told the Sacramento Bee . 'Autism rates have continued to rise even though we are not using thimerosal in vaccines for children . We still haven ’ t figured out exactly what causes autism . We do know it ’ s not vaccines . '
The nephew of President John F Kennedy attended the screening of a anti-vaccination documentary Tuesday in California , Sacramento . The Sacramento State Legislature is currently deciding a bill that would make vaccinations mandatory for all children - no matter their parents ' beliefs . RFK Jr is a vaccine skeptic and believes there is a connection between an immunization chemical called thimerosal and autism . The scientific community at large says vaccines are not dangerous .