Slashdot Mirror
Hundreds Rally For Their Right To Not Vaccinate Their Children (msn.com)
CBS News reports that as Washington state confronts a measles outbreak which has sickened at least 56 people, "hundreds rallied to preserve their right not to vaccinate their children."
They packed a public hearing for a new bill making it harder for families to opt out of vaccination requirements, reports The Washington Post: An estimated 700 people, most of them opposed to stricter requirements, lined up before dawn in the cold, toting strollers and hand-lettered signs, to sit in the hearing.... The Pacific Northwest is home to some of the nation's most vocal and organized anti-vaccination activists. That movement has helped drive down child immunizations in Washington, as well as in neighboring Oregon and Idaho, to some of the lowest rates in the country, with as many as 10.5 percent of kindergartners statewide in Idaho unvaccinated for measles. That is almost double the median rate nationally....
One activist who spoke Friday, Mary Holland, who teaches at New York University law school and said her son has a vaccine-related injury, warned lawmakers that if the bill passes, many vaccine opponents will "move out of the state, or go underground, but they will not comply."
The sponsor of a similar bill in Oregon says that anti-vaxxers "have every right to make a bad decision in the health of their child, but that does not give them the right to send an unprotected kid to public school. So if they want to homeschool their kid and keep them out of other environments, that's their decision."
But there are still 17 U.S. states that allow "personal or philosophic exemptions to vaccination requirements," reports the Post, "meaning virtually anyone can opt out." (Though some states are now considering changes.) "The enablers are state legislators in those states, that have allowed themselves to be played," complains Dr. Peter Hotez, a co-director of the Texas Children's Hospital Center for Vaccine Development at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston.
The World Health Organization estimates that measles vaccines have saved over 21 million lives since 2000. But last year in the European region's population of nearly 900 million people, at least 82,600 people contracted measles, reports Reuters. "Of those, 72 cases were fatal."
They packed a public hearing for a new bill making it harder for families to opt out of vaccination requirements, reports The Washington Post: An estimated 700 people, most of them opposed to stricter requirements, lined up before dawn in the cold, toting strollers and hand-lettered signs, to sit in the hearing.... The Pacific Northwest is home to some of the nation's most vocal and organized anti-vaccination activists. That movement has helped drive down child immunizations in Washington, as well as in neighboring Oregon and Idaho, to some of the lowest rates in the country, with as many as 10.5 percent of kindergartners statewide in Idaho unvaccinated for measles. That is almost double the median rate nationally....
One activist who spoke Friday, Mary Holland, who teaches at New York University law school and said her son has a vaccine-related injury, warned lawmakers that if the bill passes, many vaccine opponents will "move out of the state, or go underground, but they will not comply."
The sponsor of a similar bill in Oregon says that anti-vaxxers "have every right to make a bad decision in the health of their child, but that does not give them the right to send an unprotected kid to public school. So if they want to homeschool their kid and keep them out of other environments, that's their decision."
But there are still 17 U.S. states that allow "personal or philosophic exemptions to vaccination requirements," reports the Post, "meaning virtually anyone can opt out." (Though some states are now considering changes.) "The enablers are state legislators in those states, that have allowed themselves to be played," complains Dr. Peter Hotez, a co-director of the Texas Children's Hospital Center for Vaccine Development at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston.
The World Health Organization estimates that measles vaccines have saved over 21 million lives since 2000. But last year in the European region's population of nearly 900 million people, at least 82,600 people contracted measles, reports Reuters. "Of those, 72 cases were fatal."
If they go live on a deserted island and never come back, I'm OK with it.
If not, they are a danger to society and should not be allowed to mingle with normal people.
Well that is the irony of the situation. Most likely the parents are vaccinated. It is their kids they are endangering. Should be handled like any other case of child neglect. Charge the parents, take away the kids, and have responsible adults adopt them.
"have every right to make a bad decision in the health of their child"
No they fucking don't. Whenever someone causes harm to their children, either by a deliberate act or neglect, we call it child abuse. Why would this be any different ?
I'm appaled by the number of people who still see their children as we did in barbaric times; as their personal property, to do with them as they please, with the right of life and death over them.
We are not fucking barbarians anymore. This is the 21st century. We live in a civilized society now, or at least we should be. And in civilized societies, human beings don't own other human beings. Your children are not your children, no matter what your fucking animal instincts tell you. Your children, are citizens, just like you are, with the whole gammut of basic human rights every evolved and civilized culture agrees on. They are under your care until they reach the legal age of independance. And until then, your are required, by law, and by basic human decency to provide them with the best possible care. And so is society as a whole. That's why every civilized nation has mandatory education. And also why every such nation has, or should have nationalized health care for all children.
Grow the fuck up, people. Barbarism, tribalism, social Darwinism are over. Join the civilized world.
Vaccinations are part of your public responsibility, like following traffic laws. If you don't want to obey traffic laws, that's easy: don't have a vehicle. If you don't want to vaccinate your kids, that's fine, don't have kids.
I'm not hugely worried about compliance. An idiot can speed through town a time or three, but eventually they'll get caught. Children's immunizations should be signed off by a pediatrician, and verified at the beginning of every school year, when buying that summer pass to the swimming pool, and other occasions.
Enjoy life! This is not a dress rehearsal.
This sounds good on the outside but fails upon examination. Young children can't be vaccinated, the age they can depends on the specific vaccine, but as a general rule infants are unprotected. The elderly are also at increased risk even if vaccinated. Then there are some few people with whom a particular vaccination isn't particularly effective. Those may be a small minority of the vaccinated population but they often don't even know who they are. There are also a small minority of people with whom there is a legitimate medical reason they can't be vaccinated. Those people depend on a healthy "herd" of people. So when a child contracts a preventable illness through negligence like not vaccinating, then spreads it to the above vulnerable groups, it should be a criminal act because it is clearly morally wrong and injures or kills innocent people. But plenty of poor people choose not to vaccinate, how do you get blood from a stone? How do you compensate for the loss of an infant, elderly person, or loved one who can't be protected? Money dosent fix the emotional loss, nor can properly compensate for the disfigurement or life long health effects if they live.
It should absolutely be a crime against the parents/guardians, yes, but at the same time it can be hard to prove exactly who actually infected the victim and there is no possible way to compensate the damages or in some cases to even get any compensation. That's why I'm in favor of isolating them from society if we cannot make it mandatory (excusing legitimate medical reasons only).
... then they should pay for the public health costs that arise because of their decision. It is a welfare of the community issue. Laws are often made to protect the community from the bad decisions of individuals.
Exactly. Non vacinators should pay for increased risk they self select, unless there is a real medical reason not to. They also should not be allowed to send kids to public schools where they endanger kids who can’t be vacinated for valid reasons. They are entitled to be stupid but not endanger others.
I'm a consultant - I convert gibberish into cash-flow.
I'm all for vaccinating children, but forcing it on parents is wrong.
Public safety has to be forced on people for their own good. Things like speed limits and lane markings actually work to cut down traffic accidents. Just letting people drive however the hell they want is dangerous. Things like how to wire your house and building codes actually work to reduce avoidable fires, building collapses, health problems, etc. Just letting people build a house however the hell they want is dangerous. Likewise vaccines. No, it's NOT up to the parents. It's public health policy. You don't like it - tough. It's not all "my rights". It's rights AND RESPONSIBILITIES.
Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
No point in trying to educate people who have been told by authorities they trust that education is dangerous.
If you do start with that - then tax sugar, fast food, tabaco, vap, alcohol, gasoline, coal, plastic, and everything else to support wealth of the community.
The reactions to this news piece, and to some extent even the way it is written perfectly demonstrate the dysfunctional dynamic gripping America right now. Everything is an OUTRAGE, and the solution that is immediately proposed is a PUNISHMENT. It is an OUTRAGE that these parents should not want to vaccinate their children. The parents should be PUNISHED by being exiled to a desert island or by having their children removed by CPS.
I would like to challenge you all to find some empathy in your heart and focus on ways to improve voluntary compliance with all the wonderful things you think everyone else should do. I mean, I am sure you are right, because you are smart and you have all the answers. But please focus on gently and kindly educating others instead of sending police of some sort around to force them to do whatever you think is in their best interest.
By including this sig, the copyright holders of this work or collection unreservedly place it in the public domain.
Maybe we should mandate all of these things too? Because there are hundreds of communicable diseases that all those protect people against -- not just measles.
https://www.drfuhrman.com/shop...
"In Disease-Proof Your Child, Dr. Fuhrman details how a Nutritarian [vegetable-emphasizing etc.] diet increases a child's resistance to common childhood illnesses like asthma, ear infections, and allergies. He explains how eating a high-nutrient diet during childhood protects against developing chronic illness including cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular disease and autoimmune disorders."
https://www.everydayfamily.com...
"What all of this means, unfortunately, is that while breastfeeding generally provides the most protection against measles for babies when they are newborns and up to six months, those antibodies wane as they baby gets older. Currently, the CDC doesn't recommend that infants get the MMR (measles, mumps, and rubella) vaccine until they are 12 months old, so babies who are my daughter's age â" 6 months â" are lacking in that protection."
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/p...
"It is now clear that vitamin D has important roles in addition to its classic effects on calcium and bone homeostasis. As the vitamin D receptor is expressed on immune cells (B cells, T cells and antigen presenting cells) and these immunologic cells are all are capable of synthesizing the active vitamin D metabolite, vitamin D has the capability of acting in an autocrine manner in a local immunologic milieu. Vitamin D can modulate the innate and adaptive immune responses. Deficiency in vitamin D is associated with increased autoimmunity as well as an increased susceptibility to infection. As immune cells in autoimmune diseases are responsive to the ameliorative effects of vitamin D, the beneficial effects of supplementing vitamin D deficient individuals with autoimmune disease may extend beyond the effects on bone and calcium homeostasis."
https://www.health.harvard.edu... ..."
"Just like a healthy diet, exercise can contribute to general good health and therefore to a healthy immune system. It may contribute even more directly by promoting good circulation, which allows the cells and substances of the immune system to move through the body freely and do their job efficiently.
Adequate sleep is also important for immune function:
https://valleysleepcenter.com/...
"One reason our immune system function is so closely tied to our sleep is that certain disease-fighting substances are released or created while we sleep. Our bodies need these hormones, proteins, and chemicals in order to fight off disease and infection. Sleep deprivation, therefore, decreases the availability of these substances leaving us more susceptible to each new virus and bacteria we encounter. This can also cause us to being sick for a longer period of time as our bodies lack the resources to properly fight whatever it is that is making us sick."
If the logic of forced vaccination holds up, shouldn't we also be putting people in jail for giving children junk food -- as well as for producing or selling junk food consumed by children?
Or maybe we should jail people who are not getting enough sleep (e.g. people who stay up late reading Slashdot) and so are posing a health risk to everyone?
Or is that too slippery a slope for people here to consider?
Humor also boost the immune system. So maybe people who don't laugh enough should also be sent to jail as a health risk? :-)
https://www.ncbi.nlm.ni
A 21st century issue: the irony of technologies of abundance in the hands of those still thinking in terms of scarcity.
You have to have a license to have a dog. Why not a license to have a kid? The application should have some questions like.
There is ___ magical sky fairy?
The magical sky fairy will ___ save my kids?
Science ___ the magical sky fairy.
Some think like that?
I read at +2. If your post doesn't reach that level I will not see or respond to it.