Link to article

Recently, there has been a lot of talk in the media about vaccinations; should they be required or not? In the article I chose, the author talked about Dr. Jack Wolfson and his strong stance against vaccinations, as he does not want to "poison" his "pure" children. Dr. Wolfson  and his many followers, believe that giving their children vaccines will only harm them and that it is "our children's right" to get these harmful diseases. He also referred to the Measles as benign, which is quite the opposite of the reality of the disease. Before the vaccine was made, the United States had up to 4 million cases per year, thousands of which were left with serious health issues and five hundred of them died. Since the vaccine has been made, many lives have been saved and there has been much more good than bad done by the vaccines. Wolfson has always believed that we should refrain from putting chemicals into our bodies at all costs. At his practice, he often will prescribe things like sleep and healthy relationships instead of medicine and antibiotics.

Personally, I think that vaccines should be required, because your kid is not the only one being affected by you not vaccinating your child. To quote another article I read, "I vaccinate my children not only because I care about them, but I care about your kids too." I believe the author of the article agrees with me, that it is not safe to put your kid and others at risk to get fatal diseases. There is a simple, easy, and free way to protect your child, so I think you should take advantage of it.

This is related to the course because it has many ties to public opinion, and whether the public believes in making vaccines mandatory or not. The topic I chose is also related to public policy, because the government has to make decisions on what to make the public policy in regards to the issue. Many politicians are arguing about whether it should be a freedom to not get vaccines, because you are not the only person affected when you choose to not get it.