Hunter Foote | Contributing Writer
Since the wake of the Disneyland measles outbreak in California, new petitions for vaccine law reform have been sweeping the nation, especially in the state of the outbreak’s origin. One such petition is at MoveOn.org and calls for the “California State Government to make vaccines mandatory for all K-12 California school children, except for those with specific medical conditions.”
The petition has been signed by more than 18,500 people, and needs 20,000 signatures before it is sent to Governor Jerry Brown.
The petition’s page asks that schools be required to publicize the data of the current percentage of enrolled students who are vaccinated and to eliminate one way to opt out of immunizations, “Personal Belief Exemptions.”
“Public health officials have tied the rise in pertussis and measles to the lowering of the vaccination rate. If this trend continues, the immunity of the entire population is threatened (known as ‘herd immunity’),” the petition says. “Dangerous communicable diseases will spread further, and will also affect people who have been vaccinated — those with weakened immune systems, the very young, the very old and the like.”
Since the availability and success of vaccines are both higher than ever, people should join a movement like this that would require more of the population to be vaccinated.
Mother of three Lisa Porter says motherhood changed her view of vaccinations. Now, after the births of her 3-year-old and 5½-month-old twins, she said it would be “irresponsible” for her not to protect her children.
“If I’m willing to help a kid who’s not mine on the playground, why not for something potentially life-threatening?” Porter says. “And it makes me angry to hear people talk about protecting only their kids, as if we’re not all in this together and that their decisions don’t affect everyone…When it comes to larger issues of public health, I just think vaccinating is the right choice.”
As it currently stands, Health and Safety Code 120335 requires vaccinations for those in schools, day cares and development centers. However, there are exceptions or exemptions to this law: medical, religious and personal beliefs.
According to the National Vaccine Information Center, medical exemption is the most protected of the three, since it covers those who would be at risk from getting a vaccine, such as having an allergic reaction or immunodefiency disease. It is the only exemption allowed in all 50 states.
Religious exemption is the second most protected and accepted in the United States. All states have it except for Mississippi and West Virginia. Generally, in order to receive a religious exemption, the belief must be “sincerely held,” and some states require a signed affidavit from a pastor or other spiritual leader or a notarized statement.
Finally, the personal belief exemption is the most debated and is in force in only 18 states.
“In order to be allowed to exercise the philosophical, conscientious or personal belief exemption in some states, parents or children old enough to give consent (usually age 12 or older) must object to all vaccines and not just one vaccine,” says the NVIC website.
This personal exemption should be shot down, as many people are making decisions without the facts. According to the Los Angeles Times, almost 11,000 California kindergarten students have had vaccine requirements waived because of their parents’ personal beliefs. This seems to be way too many young children who really should be vaccinated, especially if attending public school.
Grand Rapids, Michigan, nurse Dusty Elliott-Young is against letting the government decide the public’s medical choices. Instead, she advocates for the freedom of choice.
“As far as vaccination laws, I believe that the government should never be allowed to dictate what we allow to be ‘shot’ into our bodies. This is not a communist state and as Americans, we have rights written into our Constitution,” Elliott-Young says. “What’s next? Can they mandate that overweight people have gastric bypass; can they arrest people with heart disease if seen smoking? Our health care, our business.”
While Elliott-Young’s stance is relevant in regard to the level of control the government has, the concept of vaccines and the overall safety of public health call for a more active hand by the government.
U.S. Sens. Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein are moving in the right direction in sending a letter to Secretary of California Health and Human Services Diana Dooley to reconsider California’s policies on vaccine exemptions and seek to end the personal belief exemption.
While exemptions for medical and religious reasons should continue, personal belief exemptions should not, for the sake of society as a whole.
Especially while living on a college campus with many students in close quarters, it is particularly vital for those students to get vaccinated. This is a decision that does not just affect the individual, but the community as a whole.