Quote Originally Posted by Skip View Post
We decided to vaccinate after reviewing/researching, but I think this is a deeply personal decision everyone has a right to make for their own children. What other medical interventions can the state compel a person to undergo?
I'm not so sure it's a "deeply personal decision etc. etc." to be honest, because of the facts and the situation at hand. I don't believe "rights" extend to ignorant risk to others lives, e.g. someone doesn't have a right to wave a loaded gun all around including at my family. Likewise, they don't have the "right" to willfully get newborns (mine) and their fellows infected with disabling or killer viruses, without good cause - e.g. for no benefit other than to "pet" their conspiratory world view and/or mental illness.

The issue with vaccines is they aren't perfect; their primary immunity comes from herd immunity (limiting a contagion spread to prevent epidemic infections). Have a lot of unvaccinated people in the "herd" and there is a tipping point where the vaccines no longer immunize a lot of people even who received them.

More importantly though, there are a lot of vaccines that you cannot give to newborns, or immuno-compromised people, including the measles vaccine (wait until one year). Do newborns have a "right" to life that is less significant than another parents "right" to be a fucking idiot? It is near impossible to isolate a newborn - 1 year old from unvaccinated kids and idiots at this point. Measles infection rates are rapidly rising now, after being wiped out of this country prior to the rise of Jenny McCarthy. Whooping cough, if anyone has ever seen it, is one of the worst things you could infect an infant with and imposes an unseen level of suffering on the child and their family.

The *only* defense against most viruses is a vaccine and herd mentality, and to protect the ones who legitimately cant vaccinate, the ones who can have to be. Even in all our advances, we have nothing else to fight most of these viruses with. People should have the "right" to opt-out with cause (immuno-compromised, etc.) but not because they are an utter moron, much like they don't have a right to be careless with firearms because they are a moron, it's not an excuse that should be recognized. I recognize you vaccinated yours, not attacking you, just don't believe people have the "right" to willfully get newborns and infants of responsible parents infected with disabling or killer viruses.