When I was in practice I had a few parents who refused vaccines despite my careful explanation of the benefits and risks. One that I distinctly remember was an Hassidic Jewish mother who claimed, although there was no basis for vaccine refusal in their doctrine, that a rabbi had advised her to follow her conscience on this. I thought this odd, but at least she claimed to have pursued some discernment for what she claimed had felt was God's will for her children.
There is certainly nothing in the rudimentary doctrine of Friends that supports not vaccinating our children. Medical care is a gift from our Creator, improving and saving lives. Picking and choosing which medical care to help their children seems not to be based on true spiritual discernment. I think rather my friends have gotten caught up in the Internet-enabled anti-vaccine movement. I asked them to seek true discernment and accused them of being less than truthful.
Another issue with vaccine refusal is the jeopardizing of others health. Vaccines are a public health concept. We get vaccinated to protect ourselves and others. When particularly susceptible children who do not have protection against a particular illness either because of age, underlying illness (AIDS, cancer) or lack of efficacy of their own vaccine (none are perfect) catch something from the unvaccinated, well that is just wrong. When we protect our own children we help others as well.
Although claiming a religious exemption might have legal grounds, I am not clear that it has moral grounds.
Who would Jesus vaccinate?
2 comments:
My wife (disclosure - we are both pediatricians with thirty plus years of experience each, and she, at least, is still part of the "medical establishment") sent me a link to your interesting post.
As a friendly Cassandra, I regret to inform you that the horse has left the barn. Medical care without credibility is not possible and that is the direction that corporate medicine is accellerating us along. No sign that truth, justice and the American way might reassert itself soon, if ever.
The management of vaccine programs as profit making enterprise unfortunately seals the fate of what I earnestly agree is the crowning achievement of scientific medicine and one of the greatest boons to mankind, ever.
Compassion, the mainspring of our vocation, withers in the face of gross injustice left unconfronted. Those who would champion the welfare of children would do well to focus not on the symptoms of the failure of the world system of coercion and exploitation, but on the core issues of denial of human rights in general. For instance, public health programs have been decimated to allow for looting of the treasury for the sake of senseless wars and subsidizing bank fraud. Most countries manage their vaccine programs as public health programs, why not ours?
Theologically speaking, the problem is the old one of the worship of Mammon displacing the worship of Creation.
Curmudgeonly yours,
Herb Ruhs, MD
sadly I agree, I am also a pediatrician....but even more sadly I left practice due to medical issues over 10 years ago, and now work for Mammon, oops, i mean the pharmaceutical industry...
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