Vaccinations Are A Public Health Issue (Not A Choice)

Those of us who are older remember a time when disease took far too many human lives. But we also remember that vaccinations began to control many of those diseases. Smallpox and polio have almost been completely eliminated by required vaccinations, and others (like measles, mumps, & rubella) were significantly reduced -- and on their way to being eliminated. This was a good thing, because many lives were saved.

But recently a new movement has developed -- the anti-vaxxers. These people don't think vaccinations should be a requirement, but a parental choice (and some would do away with vaccinations altogether). Sadly, a few celebrities jumped on the anti-vaxxer bandwagon, giving it a kind of weird credibility (even though these people were not scientists or doctors).

The anti-vaxxers latched on to a study done by a British scientist that said early childhood vaccinations were the cause of autism. That study has discredited by many scientists and doctors, who pointed out the many flaws in the study. But the anti-vaxxers cling to the discredited study, because without it there is simply no way to justify their position. And they seem to have been partially successful in spreading their flawed and dangerous message (as is evidenced by the chart above).

But there now seems to be another aspect to the anti-vaxxer movement. Look at the chart below, and compare it to the one above.

If the only reason to oppose required vaccinations was the mistaken belief that it caused autism, then the two charts should be very close to identical -- but they aren't. Note that a much higher percentage of Americans think vaccinations should be a parental choice (instead of a requirement) than believe it causes autism.

Why do they believe this? All I can figure is that they look at the issue as one of free choice or rights -- that it is a parent's right to refuse to vaccinate their children. I find this idea to be an absurd one. Vaccinations have nothing to do with freedom or rights -- they are a public health issue.

One of the obligations of government is to protect the public. It is why we use tax dollars to fund a standing military, and it is why we fund police agencies in all cities and localities -- and it is why we pass laws. We don't recognize the "right" of anyone to murder a fellow human being, or to hurt them. Why then would we allow people to hurt others by refusing to vaccinate their children?

These people are not just endangering their own children (which would be bad enough), but they are also endangering other people. They are allowing disease to continue to exist, and continue to take human lives -- and that is inexcusable. The government doesn't just have the right to protect the public by requiring vaccinations -- they have a solemn duty to do so.