SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews
California, like all the other states, requires children to be vaccinated before attending school. But the law allows exemptions for reasons of religion or "personal beliefs". The recent measles outbreak is causing some politicians to reconsider this approach. The San Jose Mercury News reports:
Two state senators said Wednesday they will introduce legislation to eliminate a controversial "personal belief exemption" that allows California parents to refuse to vaccinate their children.
"We shouldn't wait for more children to sicken or die before we act," Sen. Richard Pan, a Sacramento Democrat who is also a pediatrician, said at a Wednesday news conference. "Parents are letting us know our current laws are insufficient to protect their kids."
Pan is sponsoring the legislation with Sen. Ben Allen, D-Redondo Beach.
In Washington, D.C., California's two Democratic senators, Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer, on Wednesday asked state health officials to go further and consider eliminating the "religious exemption."
Further information:
http://www.latimes.com/local/politics/la-me-pol-measles-vaccination-20150205-story.html
http://www.cnn.com/2015/02/04/health/california-measles-outbreak/
(Score: 3, Insightful) by hoochiecoochieman on Thursday February 05 2015, @07:01PM
You're seeing it backwards.
Even if the number of anti-vaxxers was not enough to disrupt herd immunity, the risk of not vaccinating would be higher than that of side-effects. So, it's not so much cowardly and selfish, it's mostly just plain stupid.
(Score: 2) by HiThere on Thursday February 05 2015, @08:52PM
It's also cowardly and selfish because they aren't figuring the odds the same way you are.
Personally, I don't think children without vaccination should be allowed to attend public school. Let them solve the problem however they want to. I *do* consider it child abuse, but I also consider the costs of having the state mandate some particular solution to be higher than leaving it up to the parents. (In costs I'm more concerned with increasing government power than monetary costs, though those, of course, would also be present.)
Javascript is what you use to allow unknown third parties to run software you have no idea about on your computer.