Do you think the government should mandate vaccinations?

[gollygee]

Require them, and not allow parents to opt out?

I ask because my mother-in-law was staying with me this past week, and I took one of my kids in for a vaccine (the HPV one) and my mother-in-law started ranting about parents who don't vaccinate their kids, and how the government should require it and not allow parents to decide against it, unless their child has an egg allergy or is physically unable to safely have a shot for some other reason. I asked if the kids should be put in foster care for that reason and she said no but they could be taken long enough to be given shots and then be brought back home. I asked about parents who have religious objections and she said it's fine for them to object to medical care for themselves, but not for their kids - that parents don't own their kids. Which felt uncomfortable to me. I don't feel like I own my kids but I do feel like I'm the person they're entrusted to or whatever and that I should be able to make medical decisions for them, so I was arguing the position of people who don't vaccinate their kids when I do vaccinate my kids.

This conversation made me wonder about DU, which is very pro-vaccine, but also as of late has a libertarian bent. Which wins, the vaccines or the liberty?

I will put out there that I do not consider myself to have a libertarian bent, and I vaccinate my kids and feel strongly about it, but I would not mandate vaccinations. It feels very Big Brother-ish to me. I don't know if I'm the norm or not, but maybe I will find out if enough people vote in this poll.

13 votes, 0 passes | Time left: Unlimited
	Yes, vaccines should be mandatory. No opting out.
	11 (85%)
	No, parents can make this medical decision for their kids and refuse.
	2 (15%)
	Other
	0 (0%)
	0 DU members did not wish to select any of the options provided.
Show usernames Disclaimer: This is an Internet poll

[Marrah_G]

1. Yes, unless there is a medical reason not to.

I wish the HPV vaccine had been available when I was young. Then I wouldn't be scheduled for surgery to remove half my cervix next month. I also would have had to go through 2 biopsies and the nerve wracking weeks of waiting for the results.

[gollygee]

2. Love to you!

I'll be thinking of you. I went through a cancer scare this past year and I know how scary it is. I hope you get good news, and I hope the surgery goes well.

[Marrah_G]

4. I should be fine :)

They are getting rid of all the pre-cancerous cells..... if I did not have Medicaid through the ACA I never would have known and they would have become cancerous.

[TBF]

3. Yes, but with the exception that sometimes

folks are allergic to the vaccine preservative. I don't think this is going to be a huge barrier though.

I found this cite:

Much of the controversy around thimerosal in vaccines has centered on the theoretical risk of mercury poisoning. Since 2000, all pediatric hepatitis vaccines in the United States have been thimerosal free. Some vaccines have trace levels of thimerosal left over from the manufacturing process (less than 1 µg thimerosal per 0.5 mL dose of vaccine), an amount that is considered insignificant.

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/516045_3

[conservaphobe]

5. Absolutely.

There are some decisions that just shouldn't be left up to the individual.

One reason why we can't achieve much in sensible public policy these days is because of all the people running around resisting government for the sake of resisting government.

Effective public policy trumps one's paranoia about government. Buzzwords like "FREEDOM" and "LIBERTY" sound good on the stump, but are not valid arguments.

[Warren Stupidity]

6. Yes, required for attendance at public schools.

Which it is in many states. There are exemptions. They should be rigorously scrutinized.

[Sancho]

7. Should be required for attendance at schools, etc.

Most universities now require shots for students and employees. Also, should be required for travel, etc. If someone doesn't want to drive a car, that's fine if it doesn't hurt anyone but themselves.

Immunizations protect everyone. If you don't get them, you should have limits to your opportunities.

[longship]

8. This one's easy. Yes.

Public schools should mandate vaccinations.

[bigwillq]

9. I am pro-vaccination

but against a government mandate.

[Spider Jerusalem]

10. They should be mandatory with no exceptions.

Vaccination has apparently been too successful; people forget the rate of childhood mortality before vaccines were widespread.

[davidpdx]

11. I think we should encourage people to get their kids vaccinated,

but I don't think it should be mandated. Personally I was vaccinated and I believe I benefited from those. I also am far from libertarian, but think mandating the shots would be overkill.

[Throd]

12. No

[hughee99]

13. I'm not in favor of MANDATORY vaccines,

though I'd strongly encourage vaccinations and don't have an issue with things like requiring them for public school attendance.