"My child, my choice" is the public cry of parents who are against vaccinating their children. But that choice may be endangering thousands of others who can't receive vaccinations because they are too young or suffer from health conditions that compromise their immune systems.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, while 95 percent of kindergartners are vaccinated across the country, there are still instances of abysmal vaccination rates. And just a few unvaccinated children can pose a threat to public health. Consider California's 2015 measles outbreak, a flare-up of a disease considered eliminated in the United States in 2000 that resulted in more than 50 cases of the illness.
Many parents abstain from getting their children the proper vaccines out of fear of health repercussions. Most of the worry is based off a fraudulent paper published by former surgeon Andrew Wakefield in 1998, in which he claimed there was a link between vaccines and autism. The paper has since been retracted and research has continually shown there is no correlation between the two. Yet despite the data, many public figures -- from celebrities to politicians -- continue to perpetuate the stereotype that vaccines are dangerous.
In the video above, Mic breaks down the consequences of this mindset and flips the script on the anti-vax conversation by comparing it to other risky behaviors. What if everyone had the same attitude toward, say, allowing texting and driving?
"That's irresponsible, not only toward their own children and themselves, but toward the lives of other people," one woman states in the video.
Makes you think, doesn't it?
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