Parenting

Mom Says Banning Unvaccinated Kids from School Is 'Against Their Human Rights'

ParentingPublished May 2, 2019
By Kaitlin Stanford
Lottie Daley appears on camera during a segment for ITV's 'This Morning'.This Morning/YouTube

As the measles outbreak continues to spread in pockets of the United States, local governments, schools, and health officials have been speaking out about the danger of not only failing to vaccinate children but also of taking them to public spaces, which could put others at risk. In fact, Rockland County, New York, went so far as to place a temporary ban on unvaccinated children from entering public facilities, and at least one school has banned them from attending.

The growing controversy isn't just sweeping in the US, though -- England has seen a record dip in MMR vaccinations as well, prompting public concern. Yet just like here in the States, many antivaxxers are sounding off in response, including one mom from Brighton, England, who says banning kids from school over vaccinations violates their basic human rights.

Journalist Lottie Daley, a mom of three, recently appeared on the British show This Morning to debate the topic.

Fueling the conversation was the news that Britain's health secretary, Matt Hancock, has said he hasn't ruled out the possibility of banning unvaccinated kids from schools in Britain, either. 

Daley is not happy about that possibility. 

“It is against the Nuremberg Code. It is against the UNICEF human rights bill for children to deny them an education and also to inject them or medicate them without their consent or without parental consent," she said during the segment. “I think that the majority of moms start vaccinating, they only stop when something goes wrong.” 

Daley developed her views largely after her own child had a negative reaction to receiving the MMR vaccine.

According to the Sun, Lottie referenced studies that showed there were only 10 deaths resulting from measles between 2003 and 2016 in the UK.

But that fails to take into account the fact that vaccination rates were higher in Great Britain during those years; therefore, so were protections against the disease. Additionally, the World Health Organization (WHO) reports that 110,000 deaths from measles were reported worldwide during 2017 alone, and most were of children younger 5 -- which shows the mortality rates are nothing to scoff at.

Still, the measles vaccination did have a big impact: According to WHO, it resulted in an 80 percent drop in measles deaths worldwide between 2000 and 2017.

There to debate Daley was fellow mom and journalist Stephanie Nimmo, who was left deaf in one ear after not being vaccinated herself for the measles.

"The whole point is, we've almost been sanitized," Nimmo argued. "A generation ago, children were dying of measles, children were in iron lungs with polio, and because of the vaccination program, we're not exposed to those deaths."

Furthermore, Nimmo added, "with vaccination rates decreasing, I think we're going to see the number of deaths increasing but there's also the damages that these illnesses cause.”

Nimmo also shared that her youngest daughter, Daisy, was born with a rare genetic disease that actually prevented her from being vaccinated -- but it's the responsibility of those who can vaccinate their children to protect the public through herd immunity.

“She was therefore at risk of contracting measles, mumps, rubella and dying very painfully of those because she had a weakened immune system," she said. “I am contacted daily by friends whose children had treatment for cancer whose immune systems are wiped out and therefore they cannot have a vaccination.”

Although the UK has yet to make any moves toward banning unvaccinated children from schools, it's not too far outside the realm of possibility.

Especially now that measles rates are up. 

In Rockland County, New York, where one school district recently banned 42 unvaccinated children from returning until they are vaccinated, officials believe that although the measure may seem extreme, public health and safety come first.

"While no one enjoys the fact that these kids are out of school, these orders have worked; public safety is of prime importance," Rockland County Attorney Thomas Humbach told the Journal News in March. "They have helped prevent the measles outbreak from spreading to this school population."

Time will tell if more schools and local governments will make the same move if the threat of measles continues to spread.

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