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Amy Lillich
Dr. Amy L. Montz
ENG 201. NO3-201710
December 6, 2016
Mandatory Vaccinations for Our Children
Figure 1: Child Vaccinations
A vacation at the happiest place on earth did not turn out as expected for some families
that visited Disneyland in 2015. They left the amusement park with more than mouse ears and
memories. Their children were exposed to the measles virus. Two generations ago, this would
have been a common occurrence. Schools, public pools, and playgrounds would be forced to
close due to an epidemic spreading throughout a community. In the 1960s and 1970s,
government efforts to eradicate measles spurred the vaccination mandates that are now in place
in all fifty states for school aged children. These mandates have caused a lot of controversy that
include multiple ethical dilemmas. There are individuals that do not support vaccination
mandates because they feel it infringes upon their right to protect themselves and their children.
Religious and philosophical reasons have also been a prominent objection. To enhance the issue,
due to the unethical conduct on the part of some scientific researchers, a level of distrust and
discontent has developed between the public and the medical practice. For these and other
reasons, parents are choosing not to vaccinate their children. While it is understandable that a
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parent would want to do everything possible to ensure the safety of their children, the risks that
they are taking by not vaccinating far outweigh any chance of risk associated with them. Also,
their decisions are endangering others that are either too young to get vaccinated, or unable to do
so because of medical reasons. The government has been known to take important decisions that
affect the health and safety of children out of the hands of their parents. Child restraint laws and
the use of car seats are an example of this. Mandatory vaccinations should fall under this same
category. They not only protect the child, but also the entire community. Since they are the
most effective way to keep the public healthy by preventing and halting the spread of infectious
diseases, vaccinations should be mandatory for all children.
Vaccines are probably the most important medical discovery in modern time. They have
saved countless lives and several feared diseases, such as smallpox, have been completely
eradicated. Prior to widespread childhood vaccinations, measles effected three to four million
people every year (CDC). Of those infected during that time, thousands of people were either
hospitalized, had permanent brain damage, or died. Unfortunately, because vaccines are not
readily available in developing countries, 146,000 people still die from measles each year
(CDC). This proves that the serious diseases that vaccinations protect society from still exist.
The current debate and public health issue regarding vaccinations is about ill-informed parents
making decisions for their children who have no choice in the matter. Vaccines are different
from every other parenting issue in that the choices parents make also affect everyone else. As a
society, we can not allow these decisions to be made by parents based on their religion, culture,
or misconceptions about the effects of vaccines. It is everyone’s business to make sure these
decisions are made by people that are informed about the benefits of vaccines that take into
account the health of the general public.
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Along with the recent outbreak that began at Disneyland, comments made by some of the
candidates during the recent election have affirmed the growing unease for many doctors and
scientists that work on the front line of infectious disease outbreaks. New Jersey Governor Chris
Christie and Kentucky Senator Rand Paul have both commented on the anti-vax movement
suggesting that parents have the right to make to make their own choices about whether to
vaccinate their kids (Parker). “Parents should have some measure of choice,” Christie told a
reporter (Hunt). Senator Paul made a statement that, “a parent’s choice not to vaccinate a child is
an issue of freedom,” (Parker). What was once a given, childhood immunization now seems to
be up for public debate. At the heart of the issue is the lack of knowledge that most Americans
have in regards to the of the serious diseases that vaccinations protect us from. “We have
become prisoners of our own success,” says Dr. William Schaffner of Vanderbilt University
(Parker). In most families today, there are two generations of relatives that have not been
effected by diseases like polio and measles. Parents who are making these decisions have never
known someone that has died from the pneumonia and brain swelling caused by measles, or the
paralysis caused by polio.
Shortly before his death, Roald Dahl made an attempt to rectify this issue. As he watched
the anti-vaccine movement grow, he became alarmed and wanted to put a name and face in front
of the parents that choose to not vaccinate. He decided to write a public letter telling a much
different kind of story than he had ever written. Dahl is the author of many of the most loved
children stories such as James and the Giant Peach, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and
Matilda (Barbash). And while his imaginary stories were thrilling millions of people, he was
living a tragic nightmare. In 1962, his daughter Olivia had become ill with the measles. The
illness had taken on the normal course of high fever, cough, runny nose, and a red rash. After a
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few days, Dahl recalls thinking she was well on the road to recovery. “I was sitting on her bed
showing her how to make animals out of pipe cleaners, and when it came time for her to do it
herself, I noticed that her fingers and her mind were not working together,” (Barbash). Twelve
hours later, Olivia was dead. Unfortunately, if a child was infected with the same measles
encephalitis as Oliva had, there would still not be anything that doctors could do. “There is
something that parents can do today though. They can make sure their child is vaccinated,”
(Barbash). A year after Olivia’s death, a license to produce the measles vaccine became
available.
The side effects and the potential risk of death caused by the preventable diseases are not
the sole reasons to warrant mandatory vaccinations. The Center for Disease Control explains
