There's nothing like a good vaccine debate to end a mommy friendship. But a fight brewing at a school in Billings, Montana over an HPV vaccine clinic is a good reminder to the anti-vax crowd that they can disagree with us ... but boy do they need us.
Tabatha Pearson claims the Gardasil vaccine caused her elder daughter's infertility. It's a rumored side effect that hasn't been supported by any investigation by the Centers for Disease Control, but OK, fair enough, she's a concerned mom looking out for her own kids. That makes sense.
What doesn't make sense? Pearson is trying to shut down a clinic that would provide a life-saving vaccine for other fifth and sixth graders in her local community at a fraction of the cost.
That's right. She isn't just opting her own children out of the vaccine that prevents several cancer-causing strains of the human papillomavirus. She doesn't want any other parent to be able to make the choice to protect their children.
Kind of ironic coming from a crowd that spends a whole lot of time whining that it's unfair for us pro-vax parents to want them to GET their kids vaccinated, isn't it? Which is it? Do they want freedom of choice or do they only want freedom for their choice?
Parents like Pearson spend a lot of time fighting for the "right" not to vaccinate their kids. But what they forget is those of us who do opt to protect our children with these life-saving medical advancements are doing them a huge favor. Our kids are good for her kids!
It comes down to simple statistics. You may have heard it called the "herd immunity." It's what protects kids who are immuno-compromise or legitimately allergic to something within a vaccine. The more vaccinated kids there are in a community, the easier it is for the unvaccinated kids to eke by without catching something ooky. If my kid is vaccinated against a disease -- be it HPV or the chicken pox -- she's one less person who can give it to her kid.
It's bad enough, frankly, that the more unvaccinated kids there are, the more the vaccinated kids whose vaccines didn't work entirely (yes, vaccines are imperfect, this pro-vaxxer will readily admit that ... ) and all those other kids who need the herd immunity are put at risk. At the very least, the anti-vax crowd can give us pro-vaxxing parents the right to protect our kids ... and theirs.
Where you do fall on what other people do with their kids?
Image via Andres Rueda/Flickr
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Comments 70
I choose to vaccinate my kids to keep them healthy, as well as the kids they will come into contact with. I understand another parent's reasoning for NOT wanting to vaccinate if I don't agree. But, as with many parenting issues, we all have our own choices to make and another parent shouldn't dictate that for us. If this particular mom doesn't want to get the vaccine, she has that right. But she should not be allowed to take away any other person's right to make their own choice.
I agree with the article.
I am pro-vaccinating but from what I understand that vaccine doesn't even protect you from all the different HPV strains. Having protected sex is the best way to prevent this.
I vaccinate but I refuse the HPV vaccination. I don't feel that it's safe. Every parent should have the choice whether or not to vaccinate. Personally, I would be pissed if I was TOLD to vaccinate my daughters against HPV.
I so sick of this vaccine debate. Vaccines are bad. There is no such thing as herd immunity as it relates to vaccine immunity. People, pull the wool off your eyes, wake up, and realize that no good has come out of vaccines! They didn't cure anything, and they are only making today's kids sicker. I am so tired of playing the nice "I choose not to vaccinate, but it's your choice" game. I am choosing not to vaccinate because I realize that vaccines are a major FAIL by our government, and they just can't admit it, and I will openly say that am so MAD that so many people have been convinced to vaccinate themselves and their children, because it is not helping anyone. Our bodies are meant to get these diseases to make us stronger, and (especially for girls) pass on immunity through breastmilk to babies when they are too little to fight off the disease on their own. I am sorry, but I usually don't get like this, and I really try to see everyone's veiw points, and try to see the merit in every situation, but the more research I have done on vaccines, the more convinced I am that at best they are mistake, and at worst they are a deliberate conspiracy to make our children sick!
I have vaccinated my kids but will NOT get this vaccine. There is not enough research and too many reported cases of death and/or negative lasting effects for us. My oldest has a suppressed immune system with the disorder of ITP and can receive very few vaccines as it is. I understand both sides and would never begin to TELL someone else what to do...just what WE do.