Vaccination And Choice

An outbreak of measles that started in Disneyland is being blamed on parents who do not believe in vaccinating their children. These folks, who come from both sides of the political spectrum, fear a link–first raised by scientists but then retracted– between vaccination and autism, or they believe vaccination is unnatural like genetic engineering, or they don’t believe the government should mandate their children’s medical treatment, etc.

Todd, a faithful reader and commenter on this blog, who brought this issue to my attention, has studied the comments to news stories about the controversy. Many of them are railing at the idea that people should have a “choice” on medical matters when human lives are at stake! This from social liberals who are “pro-choice” when it comes to abortion!

The irony! The irony!! The first one [a comment he quotes attacking the parental liberty position] is explicitly anti-choice! And why? Because human lives are at stake here! The second one explicitly invites the government to intervene in a personal medical matter and force people to act on behalf of the health of others (namely, babies too young to get vaccinated). This is a ludicrously far cry, rhetorically, from “keep the government out of my uterus”!

Now likely Republican presidential candidates Rand Paul and Chris Christie are taking fire for saying that vaccination should not be mandatory but should be the choice of the parents. Democrats, predictably, are jumping all over that, insisting that they are the party of “science,” even though some of their members, such as Barack Obama, previously said much the same thing.

I would like to hear from people on both sides of the controversy. If you don’t vaccinate your kids, why not? Most states require vaccinations, though often with opt out provisions. Should the government require vaccination of everybody so as to protect everybody from communicable diseases?

See Vaccination debate flares in GOP presidential race, alarming medical experts – The Washington Post.

Also see Michael Gerson’s case for mandatory vaccination as a service to our neighbors.