An Ohio physician advocacy organization is denouncing President-elect Trump's choice of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to lead the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The Academy of Medicine of Cleveland and Northern Ohio (AMCNO) also called on Ohio's congressional members to stop the appointment. The group points to Kennedy's stances on vaccines and pasteurization of milk. CBS News reports one of Kennedy's controversial stances is his criticism of vaccines, and that he has promoted the idea that they cause autism. "He is a longstanding anti-vaxer, and this has been shown, he may be making softer statements now that he is looking into this position, but he has made statements clearly in the past stating that vaccines are related to autism or cause autism, and that's been debunked many times," said infectious disease specialist Dr. Kristin Englund with AMCNO. Englund, who recently retired from the Cleveland Clinic, says AMCNO's stance against Kennedy is not a political view, but a scientific one regarding the safety of medical care. She worries about the impacts of having an HHS Secretary with these views. "This may sway people to not get vaccines, and vaccines are the most important advancement that we have had during our lives," Englund says. "It has saved millions and millions of lives and is keeping people healthier. No longer do we see polio. No longer do we see outbreaks of mumps." Kennedy says people ought to have the choice whether to vaccinate themselves and their children. "First of all, anybody who wants to take a vaccine, I'm not going to get in their way," Kennedy said. "If you want a vaccine, or if you want to vaccinate your children, those vaccines will be available." Englund says the foundation of everything should be clinically evidence-based medicine. In a statement announcing Kennedy as his pick to lead HHS, President-elect Trump said "HHS will play a big role in helping ensure that everybody will be protected from harmful chemicals, pollutants, pesticides, pharmaceutical products, and food additives that have contributed to the overwhelming health crisis in this country."