Soooo… This article is not about vaccination. It is not about whether there are toxins or not or schedules or celebrity opinions.
What has come to be a debate in my own mind is public safety. I have heard people (in the wake of this measles outbreak) stating that vaccinations should be mandatory.
Are we really going to hold someone down and shoot something (remember, we aren’t taking about whether this thing is good or bad for you) into their body against their will or their consenting guardians will? Is the issue of public safety more important than the publics freedom to choose?
Truth: I don’t know. If you believe in herd immunity, vaccination is a big deal because the more we do it the safer we are. This would speak to the issue of forcing vaccinations as protecting those to young or immunocompromised to get vaccinated. However, is that removing a fundamental human right? The right to parent how we choose, the right to our own body being molested?
I don’t actually know the answer to this.
What say you, community?
Life and Photos by Andy 
Public safety supersedes public liberty, I will rather for example be subjected to humiliating security checks at an airport before i am blown to smithers – to hell with the human rights liberals, my life is worth more that their trash philosphy.
I don’t mind public checks at airports either, however I don’t want a government controlled by the public interest of wealthy corporations controlling what substance I MUST put into my body. Checking for a bomb on a person is a lot different than attempting to stamp out a disease in someone before they contract it. I agree that public safety is very important, however lets be very careful what liberties we give up so freely.
What do you two think about mandatory quarantine for diseases that aren’t necessarily considered deadly to the general population? After all, it is the immunocompromised and the very young and very old that are the usual suspects when it comes to mortality of these diseases.
This is a hard one because I can see and empathize with both sides. However, being military and never quite knowing where you will end up, I do believe in vaccinating and the military’s policy on mandatory vaccinating before going to certain countries. Not because I believe locally we have issues, but we may end up in another country (sometimes at a moments notice) that has issues with disease. Imagine bringing that back to the U.S. and getting everyone sick here as well.
While, I never had tuberculosis, doctors did determine (many years ago) that I was “exposed” to it while I was in Germany (or a few other places I had been to in Europe). A most deadly disease and easily spreadable. Imagine flying back to the U.S. with that in my system.
I think in these particular situations, heavy thought must be put towards vaccinating.
Me too! I mean, I can see both sides. On one hand, I don’t want anyone telling me what I have to put in my body. On the other hand… It’s illegal to sell organs, even our own, for a reason. Public wellbeing. But is that taking away freedom? Are we mandating public wellbeing TOO MUCH? We’re does your right and mine begin and end?
Measles can be deadly even to fit individuals who are otherwise healthy due to measles induced encephalitis. If we can quarantine people with Ebola, we should be able to have mandatory vaccines against a virus that spreads much more easily.
Good point!