Last month, I wrote about Hannah Polling, a girl whose vaccines caused her autism. Her parents won money from the Vaccine Injury Compensation program. It was a landmark case in part because it was one of the largest compensations for autism ever awarded. Autism advocacy groups were quick to print headlines that the CDC acknowledges that vaccines cause autism and the government was quick to tout studies that showed that vaccines don’t cause autism. Before this the big ‘vaccine’ news was mandatory vaccinations in New Jersey that sent several hundred parents to court to prove that their children had them.
The big question is should parents be allowed to refuse vaccinations? On one side is parental rights These are, after all, our children. It is inconceivable, to be forced to do something to your child you feel is harming them. On the other side of the debate is the issue of public health. The fact of the matter remains, vaccinations cut down on diseases and the more children who don’t get any, the more of a possibility it is to spread certain illnesses.
I have said before that we do a delayed vaccination schedule similar to the one Dr. Sears recommends. It yields a fully vaccinated child by the time he/she enters kindergarten. I assumed when we chose this course that we wouldn’t be sending children to day care or preschool and that was fine with us. It never crossed my mind (it still doesn’t frankly) to complain about my rights being violated.
Whether you choose to vaccinate or not, vaccination is considered a public health issue. I think there are valid reasons for not vaccinating and I think that parents have the right to refuse vaccinations at their choosing. But then I don’t think that we have the right to demand entrance into any daycare we choose. It’s not a violation of our rights to be denied entrance into certain day care facilities or preschools because of our choice not to vaccinate.
Valorie Delp shares recipes and kitchen tips in the food blog, solves breastfeeding problems, shares parenting tips, and current research in the baby blog, and insight, resources and ideas as a regular guest blogger in the homeschooling blog. To read more articles by Valorie Delp, click here.
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