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New Jersey Gov. Christie: Parents Should Have Choice In Vaccinations

kwyjibo87 writes: New Jersey Governor and self-appointed public health expert Chris Christie weighed in on the public debate over whether or not parents should have a choice in vaccinating their children, telling reporters in the U.K., "I also understand that parents need to have some measure of choice in things as well, so that's the balance that the government has to decide." He added, "Not every vaccine is created equal and not every disease type is as great a public health threat as others." These statements from Gov. Christie follow President Obama commenting in an interview with NBC: "There is every reason to get vaccinated — there aren't reasons to not."

Gov. Christie quickly backpedaled on his "vaccine choice" comments, with the Governor's office stating, "The Governor believes vaccines are an important public health protection and with a disease like measles there is no question kids should be vaccinated," but amending: "At the same time different states require different degrees of vaccination, which is why he was calling for balance in which ones government should mandate."

2 of 740 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Backpedalled? by ArcherB · · Score: 0, Troll

    If your child is going to be attending a public facility, then yes, the government has every right to set the perquisites for attending.

    Attending that "public facility" is mandatory per truancy laws. So, it works like this:
    1) Government mandates that children must attend school
    2) Government mandates that all children who attend a school must meet certain health requirements.
    3) If children do not meet those health requirements, See #1

    Now, I could get on board if the money the state taxed me to pay for my child's education would follow him/her to the school of my choice.

    As for your bashing of anti-vaxers, I agree, but don't tie to a mandatory activity.

    --
    There is no "I disagree" mod for a reason. Flamebait, Troll, and Overrated are not substitutes.
  2. Re:Backpedalled? by FlyHelicopters · · Score: 0, Troll

    And those are open to medical exceptions. What doesn't make sense is some ignorant parent who heard Blond Actor #20 say that vax r badxors run away run away! Said actor has no expertise yet the ignorant parent will potentially let his or other parents children die of measles based on hearsay from a very questionable source. That's what people are pissed about.

    While that is a fair point... and yes, that blond actress doesn't in fact know what she is talking about (Jenny, we're looking at you)...

    The fact is, you do not want government getting into this... freedom to make your own choices and freedom of religion is FAR more important...

    History is filled with examples of what happens when you go down the other path... That is why freedom of religion is written right into our Constitution.