"I don't like things all good or all bad. I like things in between." - John Ford's Red River
Way I figger this anti-vaccinate / vaccinate scenario is pretty simple. One persons rights end where another person's rights begin.
I was alive at a time when such miracles of science such as vaccination were rare. Smallpox and Polio vaccines were available when I was young. Didn't get the sugar cube with a drop of polio vaccine kids get today. Back then the needle was a big as a Dixon pencil and you had to get three doses over a period of weeks. Wish I would have had the market on hankies cornered back then. I'd be in the top .001%.
Back then, people brought their children to stand in line while nurses and doctors checked everyone and then gave the vaccines for polio and smallpox. I got a dime from my dad when my smallpox scab fell off and I had my first real scar, which was a proud moment in my life.
Got whooping cough, measles (both types), mumps and chickenpox. A few of my neighborhood friends died from measles and mumps and a couple spent years in iron lungs due to polio.
Some really smart and bold people decided to declare war against former childhood diseases and won...until now.
Lot of really stupid parents running around nowadays. They won't vaccinate their child due to primal fears based on nothing. But, they do have one point I can't argue with and that is the parent makes the decisions for their children.
But, when push comes to shove, it all boils down to one person's right ends when another person's right begins.
So, smart parents will vaccinate their children. Dumb parents won't.
To be fair, any parent who refuses to vaccinate their children should bear the medical costs for any illness their children face for failing to vaccinate. It should not be covered by insurance unless the child is vaccinated and becomes one of the rare children who still gets one of the childhood diseases.
Nor, should any unvaccinated child be allowed to attend public institutions, including parks and schools, etc.
Yes, parents have rights, but with those rights should come consequences in their failure to provide for the common welfare.
Mumps ruined my eyesight and hearing. Something I've endured my entire life. Had a mumps vaccine been available way back when I was young, my uneducated parents would have had me vaccinated pronto. What lack of education my parents faced was more than compensated by strong common sense.
So, let the discussions begin, but remember as Americans, one persons right ends where another persons right begins.
That's all I've got to say on the subject.