Wednesday, February 4, 2015
Vaccination Q & A
Do vaccinations work? Yes. There is absolutely no denying that fact. Feel free to ask Google yourself. The evidence is overwhelmingly positive.
Should the government require vaccinations? In a perfect world, no, the free market would have led us to vaccinations because it is the safe and efficient thing to do. However, we are too far down the path to go back now. You are free to choose if you want to send your kids to public, private, or home school. In order to go to public school, the government requires your kids to be vaccinated (with some exceptions). This is no different from a private business setting their own rules and regulations. The government is free to regulate the services it provides.
Should we have any freedom to choose which vaccinations we give our kids? Yes. The most dangerous viruses are the ones that are required by most states before kids can enter public school -- measles, tetanus, polio, etc. Flu and other less dangerous viruses, however, are completely up to you. Not all flu vaccinations have high success rates, and the flu strains are rarely fatal.
Do vaccinations cause autism? This is a theory, currently. There are studies that are inconclusive at best.
Should we continue to research vaccinations and their effects? Absolutely. If there is even the slightest doubt that vaccinations could be harmful in anyway, then it's our responsibility to keep researching and testing until that doubt is gone.
Should we continue to seek improvements in vaccinations that make them as safe as possible? Yes.
Are there people who are overreacting about vaccinations causing autism? Yes. There is a current trend right now for all those "forward thinking" people that involves not getting your children vaccinated. Despite all evidence supporting vaccinations, there are parents who would rather risk the spread of diseases to their kids and others instead of risking the theory of vaccinations causing autism.
Should parent's get their kids vaccinated? Yes. And if you are scared of vaccinations causing autism, a common compromise is to spread out the timeline that your child receives the vaccinations. Senator Rand Paul, a doctor, chose to stagger the vaccinations over a period of time for his children. In my opinion, this is the best strategy to avoid any potential side effects.
Are vaccinations being blown out of proportion for political reasons? Of course. Politicians would make an issue out of cutting the edges off sandwich bread if they thought it would gain them political advantage -- especially in an election year.
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I don't agree with your assessment that the government should get to decide if your children get vaccinated just go attend public school. I see it as your children, your choice. You should get to make all decisions regarding your children unless you're physically harming them. Saying that the government should get to decide how to regulate their services seems like a blanket statement and gives them free range to decide on anything related to your child just because they attend public school. Would it be okay if they decided that all children need to be circumcised, wear certain outfits, eat certain foods, only speak a certain language, or anything else just to attend public school?
ReplyDeleteWhy are you even worried about other kids being vaccinated if your kids are vaccinated? Isn't the purpose of vaccinations to make sure that they don't catch whatever viruses other people are carrying?
"Would it be okay if they decided that all children need to be circumcised, wear certain outfits, eat certain foods, only speak a certain language, or anything else just to attend public school?"
DeleteApples and oranges, my friend. Vaccinations provide protection from various harmful and potentially deadly viruses. This is backed by years of research and positive results. If the government could provide irrefutable evidence that "wearing certain outfits" provided a great benefit to society and all of society agreed, then you might have an argument.
In most cases I would agree that regulation is bad or not necessary. But this is not one of those cases.
I like to use Ron Paul's non-aggression litmus test whenever considering issues. Does this idea require aggression or not. If the government requires anything such as vaccinations then it requires aggression to enforce the requirement. As not being vaccinated doesn't physically harm a child there is no cause for aggression. Ron Paul always says you have to be consistent with your beliefs and making exceptions is very bad. Once you start making exceptions you'll never stop and you'll end up with exceptions for everything.
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