The Quest to Find Balance Between Public

Health and Religious Freedom

By. Marie Thompson

magine that your son comes home

from school one day with a slight
cough. The cough worsens through
the night and by morning he sounds
awful. You take him to the doctor and he
is diagnosed with whooping cough.
Whooping cough? I know he was vaccinated. You say and the doctor informs
you that probably someone in his class
may not have been vaccinated. Even
though your son has a mild case, he
feels miserable, sounds terrible and
tastes blood every time he coughs. This
actually happened to a neighborhood
boy I know.
Vaccines have proven to be highly
effective in combating contagious, and
in one case eliminating, disease. In an
article published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, only
smallpox has been completely eradicated. With that said, as effective as vaccines are, there is no guarantee that a
child will not contract a disease, the

Photo provided by Monkey Business Images/Shutterstock

vaccine will only help reduce the symptoms of the illness, as in the case of the
neighborhood boy in the paragraph
above. Though he felt miserable, his
symptoms were milder than had he not
been vaccinated.

32 | JUNE 2015 | PARENTS

Vaccinations & Politics

The idea of immunization is nothing
new, according to a timeline of the history of vaccines provided by the College
of Physicians of Philadelphia, As early
as 1000 AD the Chinese were experimenting with a way to vaccinate against
smallpox by introducing a mild form of
the disease into the body so the body
would create its own immunity. Around
1718, Lady Mary Montagu was influential in introducing the idea of variolation
against smallpox to England. The procedure was not welcomed at first but as
word spread about how effective variolation was, acceptance grew. Which
brings us to modern day immunizations
and the differences of opinion regarding
the need for vaccination. Because vaccines have been so successful in reducing the number of cases of contagious
disease some parents feel there is no
longer the need to vaccinate.
California Senate Bill 277 (SB 277)
stems from this debate and will ensure
that all children will be adequately vaccinated prior to entering the public
school system regardless of the personal or religious beliefs of the parents.
Senators Pan of Sacramento and Allen
of Santa Monica introduced SB 277
After an outbreak of measles in December at Disneyland sickened 136 Californians, reports Lisa M. Krieger of the
San Jose Mercury News. SB 277 does
allow for medical exemptions because
of allergic reactions to vaccines or the
health of the child is too compromised to
handle the immunization. The question
now raised is who is best suited to make
such decisions regarding a childs
health? The parents, in concert with
their doctor are those who are best suited to make decisions about when to and

what vaccines a child should receive,

not a government agency.

Parental Rights
The oppression of religious freedom
or personal beliefs is not new or exclusive to any one particular culture or
faith. History has shown just how atrocious man can treat his fellow man. After WW II, in 1948 the United Nations
adopted the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights. The Declaration contains
a Preamble and 30 Articles or statements of each persons rights as a human being. Article 18 states: Everyone
has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes
freedom to change his religion or belief,
and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private,
to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance.
Clearly, everyone has the right to live
their religion and practice it as they see
fit. This includes making decisions regarding health and well-being.
Education is the key to finding balance between public safety and maintaining personal and religious freedom.
Education about how quickly a disease
can spread among those who are not
vaccinated, education about the timing
of vaccines, education about what ingredients are contained therein. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
and The History of Vaccines are two
examples of websites that have educational pages with interactive demonstrations to help educate parents and the
public. Doctors are always happy to field
questions and concerns of parents. Parents in consultation with their doctor
should be the ones making the personal
decisions about a childs health, not a
bureaucratic government agency.