Thought experiment

[mme_hardy]

What if people who signed opt-out forms for their children's vaccinations had to accept consequences?

"I agree that if there is an outbreak of vaccine-controllable infectious diseases in the area, my child will be forbidden to attend school until the outbreak passes. I agree that if anyone in my household contracts a vaccine-controllable disease, my household will be quarantined until risk of contagion is past. "Quarantine" means that no member of the household will be allowed to leave the house except for a medical emergency, and that nobody outside the household will be permitted to come within contagion distance of the house."

Comments

[mme_hardy]

As we're discovering in the U.S., the answer to "circumstances in which it is necessary" is "all circumstances". Choosing to forgo vaccination is like choosing to forgo automobile insurance -- the risk is not just to yourself but to the community. If we can ethically require that people buy auto insurance for the good of the community, we can also ethically require vaccination absent serious moral reasons. We've already had babies die of whooping cough in California, babies too young to be vaccinated themselves.

[nineveh_uk]

I'm going to bow out of further discussion at this point in the avoidance of stress, as I think it's clear we're not going to agree on this issue (which to be clear from my POV, is not vaccination itself, which I am verey much pro- but the social issues around it, where various lines are drawn, and what counts as serious moral reasons).

[mme_hardy]

Fair enough. Please do stick around in general, though.

[nineveh_uk]

I shall do :-)