Here Goes Nothing

I'm going to tell you something that might surprise you.

I am pro-choice.

For those of you who are still reading, let me explain. I am not referring to baby-killing. I'm talking about a parent's right to choose when it comes to vaccinations.

I know this can be a hot button issue, and I promise to stay away from the mercury-autism debate. But I've been telling people that I wish we had vaccine exemptions in this state while I sit around and not do anything about it. No more, my friend, no more.

Here's a summary for those of you who are not familiar with this issue: Mississippi is one of only 2 states that does not allow parents to opt-out of vaccines that are on the mandated schedule. If you want to put your kids in school, you have to inject them with every vaccine that the CDC recommends.

Some of these vaccines are made with aborted human fetal tissue.

Some have formaldehyde in them.

Lots of them have aluminum and other metals that I just don't want them sticking into SB.

Lots of kids have all these vaccines and are FINE. Some kids are not so lucky. Science still isn't perfect. Some kids just react differently to the same substance.

I am NOT anti-vaccine. I just want the right to choose which ones my child gets, which ones we wait on and which ones we avoid completely. Is that so bad?

All the other states except MS and West Virginia have exemptions for parents who don't want to stick their kids with every shot the CDC mandates.

Is disease rampant in those other states? NO

Lots of parents in other states have chosen to skip some of the suggested vaccines for whatever reason, and contrary to what the vaccine industry wants you to think, these unvaccinated kids are not running around spreading polio or rubella. Whoever heard of rubella anyway?

Polio has been eradicated, yet we're still vaccinating kids against it. The only cases of polio now are from kids who HAVE been vaxed against it. As in, they got it from the vaccine.

I know some of you are thinking that if we stop vaxing against it, it will come back. Do a little research on smallpox, okay? Same thing. Eradicated it, stopped vaxing against it, it's still gone.

I also don't think I should have to give SB a shot to protect her from Hepatitis B, which you get mainly from sharing infected needles. Since she's not an IV drug user (as far as I know) she probably doesn't need to be vaccinated against that while she's an infant.

Many of the things they are vaccinating kids against used to be life-threatening diseases. The vaccines used to be necessary to save lives. Things are different now. We have soap and warm water. We have hospitals if our kids get sick.

If SB scrapes her finger on a rusty nail, tetanus is not a death sentence. We can take her to the doctor to get a tetanus shot, if necessary.

Now they want to make your kids get a shot against chicken pox before they can start school. Because chicken pox is such a deadly disease? I think not. I had it as a kid, and so did you. You itched for a few days, didn't you? I know. I did too. I'm still here, and so are you.

I think in some cases, the possible negative effects of vaccinating outweigh the possible risk of disease. If you feel differently, that is fine.

I'm just not totally comfortable with this rule that I have to vaccinate my kid against every possible illness. I think as a parent I should have the right to decide what's best for my child. I do not believe for one second that I am endangering her life by not giving her a vaccine against chicken pox or tetanus or the flu.

But right now, the government says I have to either give my tiny little baby all those shots with all that stuff in them or she can't go to school. That's why I've decided to do something about it. You can too. Even if you want to give your kids all the shots on the schedule, you can still support a parent's right to make informed decisions.

And please don't tell me you don't want your kid sitting next to mine at school. If your kid got all the vaccinations, he has nothing to worry about, right?

If you live in Mississippi, you can join this Web site (no charge, no pressure). The more people we have, the stronger we will be for the next state legislative session (Jan 2009). The last bill supporting exemptions was killed in committee by an 11-10 vote. If we all band together, we can make our voices heard.

This Web site is just a group of parents who also want the right to make informed decisions. We are planning to lobby our legislators so they can hear our side of the issue. When session starts next year, we can hopefully get an exemption bill passed.

http://parents.meetup.com/465/