http://204.27.188.70/daily/03-97/03-19-97/c04op123.htm

 

Author unknown. (Was this written by the editor of the paper?)  Please write the paper and tell them what you think about this.

 

Childhood vaccination laws an example of what works

 

There's nothing wrong with challenging conventional wisdom, but how did we reach the point where we question the wisdom of vaccinating children against infectious diseases?
The Massachusetts Legislature is seriously considering a bill that would make vaccinations the decision of children's parents, not a mandate under state law as it is now. Under the banner of "free choice," some parents are demanding the right to refuse to vaccinate their children. Some of them fear adverse reactions to the vaccines, even though the reactions are one in a million. Some of them think that other vaccines may work better. Some of them simply have a thing about being told what to do by anyone.

Their problem is that among the medical establishment, there is no question that any risk posed by vaccinations is vastly outweighed by the benefits. It has been so long that we wiped out such things as smallpox, polio and other devastating diseases that some among us feel free to indulge in righteous, ideological hair-splitting about the power of the state to make public health decisions.
The plain truth about vaccinations is that if they are not mandatory (the only exemptions now are for medical and religious reasons), many parents wouldn't have their children immunized.
And while some of those parents would do it on principle, based on whatever knowledge they have that makes them think they are right, those parents would be in a distinct minority. Most of the parents who fail to protect their children, who trade a tiny risk for one that is thousands of times greater, will have no clue. They'll skip the vaccinations because they are ignorant, or lazy. Some will say they cannot afford it, and maybe that is true for some of them; but that is a different issue. Most of those who exercise this "free choice" will be the same ones who think it's perfectly all right to let children ride in automobiles without using seat belts or safety seats, and who otherwise abuse their children and put them at risk.
Children don't come with an owner's manual. Parents become parents without any requirement that they know the first thing about what they are doing. When anti-vaccination proponents charge that the state "tends to treat parents like idiots," they are not too far from the awful truth that some of them really are.
Call it interference. Call it paternalism. Call it big government. But we know from experience what works and what doesn't. And in this case, the foes of vaccination laws are coming to the Legislature with a chip on their shoulders that is far larger than the body of evidence that they believe supports their claim.

ALL INFORMATION, DATA, AND MATERIAL CONTAINED, PRESENTED, OR PROVIDED HERE IS FOR GENERAL INFORMATION PURPOSES ONLY AND IS NOT TO BE CONSTRUED AS REFLECTING THE KNOWLEDGE OR OPINIONS OF THE PUBLISHER, AND IS NOT TO BE CONSTRUED OR INTENDED AS PROVIDING MEDICAL OR LEGAL ADVICE.  THE DECISION WHETHER OR NOT TO VACCINATE IS AN IMPORTANT AND COMPLEX ISSUE AND SHOULD BE MADE BY YOU, AND YOU ALONE, IN CONSULTATION WITH YOUR HEALTH CARE PROVIDER.