Vaccines

Thanks to all of the cases of measles in the news lately, vaccines have become a major topic of discussion. In particular, should states remove exemptions for vaccinations?



A large majority of parents who refuse to vaccinate their children rely on disproven consequences. Unless there is a legitimate medical reason for a child not to vaccinate, all children should go through the process. I don't want to go too far here. Whether or not I want children to be vaccinated is a very different topic from whether or not parents should be mandated to vaccinate their children.

If you know me, you know that I believe there have to be limits to just about everything. I also believe in individual rights. When it comes to beliefs, I do not want to force my views on others.

I want to deviate a bit from the main topic. When it comes to the American constitution, I believe that the founding fathers had a lot of good ideas but were imperfect. One of my biggest criticisms has been freedom of religion. The reason that I am not a fan of freedom of religion is because I view the concept as too narrow. We should all have the right to develop and maintain our own beliefs. This does not only include religious beliefs.

A lot of religions maintain absurd beliefs that have effectively been disproven. That does not mean that the government should be allowed to prohibit such beliefs. It's the same with vaccines. The government can encourage individuals to look at facts, but they should have no right to force views on citizens. This means that exemptions should not only exist for religious beliefs, but also absurd disproven beliefs that have nothing to do with religion.

Technically speaking, we have not invalidated the validity of all philosophical exemptions. Most people who don't vaccinate their children rely on a disproven narrative, but that doesn't prove that no valid argument exists. Imagine for a moment that something better than a government-mandated vaccine emerged, possibly a different vaccine. Eliminating exemptions would effectively prohibit a parent from the alternative option.

The dialogue surrounding vaccines does have a complication. Some people do have legitimate medical reasons for not vaccinating. By parents not vaccinating their own children, they increase the risk to others. This taps into my belief that you have to draw the line somewhere. When people don't vaccinate due to misguided beliefs, they are not maximizing prevention of diseases. This is very different from subjecting those who are at risk to those diseases. While eliminating exemptions could potentially save lives, it clearly crosses a line regarding freedom. For this reason, I would not be comfortable closing religious or philosophical exemptions.