Over the years, more and more people are announcing their stance against vaccines.
The Internet has only made it easier for skeptics to spread misleading information and recruit more allies against vaccinating children.
Countless parents are making their anti-vax stance known and speaking out against the dangers. I mostly see it in “mommy” blogs from parents who don’t have significant science-based experience.
“Seriously, it’s not anyone’s business but MINE if I vaccinate my kids or not,” wrote Stephanie Precourt on Babble.com, a website for parents.
I disagree. I think it’s the business of anyone and everyone who comes in contact with a child potentially carrying a dangerous virus because their parents didn’t get them vaccinated. On her personal blog, “Adventures in Babywearing,” Precourt wrote that she became anti-vaccine after one of her sons developed Doose Syndrome. The thing is, there isn’t sufficient scientific evidence to suggest that vaccines cause that illness.
Jenny McCarthy is one of the most vocal celebrities to fight against vaccination. For years, she has been telling the public that vaccinations like the MMR vaccine may have contributed to her son developing autism.
She has since attempted to backpedal, claiming that she was never anti-vaccine but rather prefers moderation and a custom-made vaccine schedule for each child.
McCarthy’s inconsistent behavior is irresponsible because of her celebrity status and influence over the public.
In response, plenty of people are speaking out against McCarthy in an attempt to re-educate the public and reveal her mindless ranting and raving for what it is.
Someone has even gone so far to create the Jenny McCarthy Body Count website, which lists how many illnesses and deaths have occurred since 2007 (when McCarthy began speaking out) that could have been prevented by vaccines.
People who rally against vaccinations create an active threat against children whose immune systems can’t protect them and those who are too young to be vaccinated. They create unsafe environments for others because they refuse to believe scientific proof that vaccines do much more good than harm.
I’m one of those people who was kept up to date on their vaccinations. Vaccines certainly didn’t hinder me in any way and I’m very glad they exist.
But others disagree, including extremists who take natural parenting too far. They believe living a more natural lifestyle is the best option for their families. Their parenting includes cloth diapers and mindful product purchasing, but not illness-preventing vaccines.
Alicia Silverstone wrote in her new book,“The Kind Mama: A Simple Guide to Supercharged Fertility, a Radiant Pregnancy, a Sweeter Birth, and a Healthier, More Beautiful Beginning,” that more and more parents are claiming that their children were “never the same” after being vaccinated.
And they weren’t the same. They were changed for the better, because they were immunized against illnesses that have plagued generations before us.
Personally, I think it’s great that we don’t have to worry about polio damaging our muscles and nerves anymore.
Despite being considered “eliminated” in 2000, there has been a recent resurgence of Measles in New York and North Carolina, among other places.
But this shouldn’t be, because you can easily protect yourself from Measles with the combination MMR vaccine, which also protects against Mumps and Rubella.
Websites like VacTruth post frightening photos of illness-riddled children and blame it all on vaccinations, without addressing the deaths that could be prevented by them. They also post articles with biased language and tell their readers that folks who support vaccines are just working for “Big Pharma.”
Sure, vaccinations are unnatural. But so are cars. So are grocery stores. So is deodorant. Unnatural is not automatically evil or better than its natural counterpart.
— Miki Jennings is a journalism and linguistics senior. Follow her @DailyWildcat.