California's vaccine law: Opponents moving, home schooling to avoid controversial mandate

[alp227]

Nina Jensen, a Morgan Hill mother of two, is moving her family this month to Oregon. One big reason: The state still allows parents to opt out of vaccines for schoolchildren.

In San Jose, Kristen Kinne is checking out real estate in Idaho for the same reason. And an East Bay mom is considering going to an "underground network" of doctors to get a medical exemption for her 3 1/2-year-old son from a new law requiring nearly all California schoolchildren to be fully vaccinated -- regardless of their parents' personal or religious beliefs.

Senate Bill 277, which last year triggered one of the most contentious debates in the state Capitol in years, takes effect Friday. But tens of thousands of Californians still remain vehemently opposed to a mandate they consider a violation of their parental rights.

The law, however, is being hailed by its proponents as a victory for public health. They say state records show it is already achieving measurable results in raising the number of vaccinated children.

full: http://www.mercurynews.com/health/ci_30077494/californias-vaccine-law-opponents-moving-home-schooling-avoid

[tonyt53]

1. Parental rights? More like child abuse.

[Igel]

2. That's often in the eye of the beholder.

Low levels of unvaccinated kids aren't a real problem. We had them for decades, without serious consequences. It's when the unvaccinated population increased it became a serious issue.

Lots of things have been called child abuse. It was unconscionable in some countries to talk about private property or freedom of speech that contradicted the official party line. Your child could be removed because you failed in your parental responsibilities, for the child's protection.

I know people who consider circumcision to be child abuse, or teaching kids a religion. Teaching kids their parents' first language used to be what we'd now call child abuse.

If the practice doesn't carry undue risk, whatever the group think around the idea is, it's not abuse. What "undue" risk is can be difficult in a democracy, but not in a technocracy where we outsource our opinions to experts on the current knowledge. Often this involves the majority telling a minority what to do and think or, if the minority doesn't comply with the majority culture, punishing them. Often the punishment is accompanied by telling the minority the *real* reason the minority does as it does.

We object to this very strongly in some areas of social life. We demand it in others.

[Humanist_Activist]

8. The issue is there are clear negative consequences to not vaccinating enough people...

you having things such as measles outbreaks. We need to make it mandatory with no non-medical exemptions. I would even go so far as to say there should be lists drawn up of parents and their children who aren't vaccinated for non-medical reasons, to warn other families of the potential risk.

[still_one]

9. That is correct, as long as it is a "low level", because in effect the majority who are vaccinated

indirectly offering a level of protection for the minority who refuse to get vaccinated.

The problem presents itself when that minority becomes larger, then it becomes a real risk to the general population, which is exactly what you said.

Refusing circumcision is not the same thing as refusing vaccination. There are very real life threatening diseases that can prevented in most cases by effective vaccinations. Having or not having a circumcision does not affect the public at large.

[still_one]

4. That is the truth

[Il_Coniglietto]

3. Those poor children

The parents' selfish need to maintain their worldview at any cost is risking their children's lives. I know the parents think they're doing the right thing, but my god

[bluesbassman]

5. Could they speed it up a little? Commuting on 880 is intolerable.

Sorry Oregon and Idaho.

[radical noodle]

6. Immunization is science

There are children who, for a variety of reasons, cannot be immunized yet are most at risk if they get any of those diseases. When I was a young child, there were no immunizations for measles, mumps, chickenpox or polio. I can remember the rejoicing over the polio vaccine when it came out. The anti-vaccination folks endanger their own kids and others. It's a matter of what's good for the public at large rather than basic personal freedoms.

[haele]

11. Two children I knew died of childhood diseases when I was growing up in the 60's.

First when we lived in the San Fernando Valley - one of the kids at day care, and second when I was in kindergarten in Berkley.
I remember because of my parent's reactions - those were the only times I ever remember seeing them afraid.
I also remember when the rubella vaccination finally came out - that was huge. All sorts of fliers, charts, commercials...all about this new vaccination that was going to save lives. No matter that only .002% of the population ever had to worry about dying from rubella, but it was still a significant impact to public health.

When this first came up two years ago, my mother ranted about the fools who chose not to vaccinate for personal reasons. She grew up in Los Angeles during the '40's and 50's, and knew 8 children in her neighborhood and elementary school who had either died or were permanently affected by the childhood diseases that swept through the schools. Her neighbor's newborn baby boy died of whooping cough one month to the day after her own mother died; this was the woman who looked after her while Grandma was too sick, and continued until Mom graduated high school. Mom remembered the "measles parties" and the "pox parties". She remembers the sudden isolation of a very good friend of hers who had developed polio - no one was able to visit the sick girl (who later recovered, but was unable to walk without braces for the rest of her life) and everyone was watchful for months of any symptoms of polio in any of the other children who played with her.

Herd immunity is critical, especially as more and more children (and adults) appear to have compromised immune systems.

A lot of people talk about personal freedom. But, to paraphrase the old saying "Your freedom to swing your fist ends a foot away from my nose". Even if one doesn't see the direct effect of their actions, it doesn't mean that one's action or lack of action doesn't have an effect on something or someone in the future.
At a certain point, a personal choice to forgo responsibility affects someone else who has not made a choice to participate in someone else's personal "freedom". If one's insistence to do whatever they feel they have the right to do impacts another's actions, choices, or even life, one needs to take responsibility for their own actions, or otherwise pay the price of taking away someone else's rights and freedoms through an irresponsible or intentional omission.

Haele

[radical noodle]

12. We had a boy in our class who had polio too

and is still wearing braces because of it. Those were the lucky ones. I wonder how many remember the iron lungs? Some parents today seem to have no conception of how dangerous those diseases were. Older folks who didn't have measles, mumps or chickenpox and didn't get the shots are at risk from children who are not vaccinated as well. Pregnant women who get rubella can miscarry or give birth to a baby with serious birth defects.

The chickenpox vaccine didn't come along until after my daughter had it at age 4, but she had the other vaccinations. I am so happy that they were available.

[sinkingfeeling]

10. Just as long as the unvaccinated aren't in the midst of others.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

13. Unfortunately, they are, sometimes.

And then we have outbreaks.

Wasn't there a measles outbreak at Disneyland last year? This is what can happen, and it can be dangerous.

[JCMach1]

14. Robbing society of the 'herd' immunity needed to keep these diseases from gaining

footholds...

And yes, killing people because of it. Anti-vaxxers have no right to put my child (or myself) at risk.