this has been brought up before and nothing came of it in the past, but Deputy Minister of Health Yaakov Litzman has just raised the issue again..
In an interview today with Walla News, Litzman said, in regards to the "outbreak" of measles and the continued spreading of the disease, that he will take into consideration the negation of rights from parents who refuse to vaccinate their children.
I am not sure what rights he is considering negating of such parents. Perhaps child disbursements (ie kitzvat yeladim) as a start. I am not sure what else can be taken away. Would he have social welfare services remove a child from such a home? Would the right to make medical decisions be taken away from them? What other rights might come under consideration?
I am skeptical that Litzman will do anything about this beyond making some implied threats. He has made the same threats in the past and did nothing about it. Even more so, a large percentage of the people refusing to vaccinate their children are members of his own [extended] community. It is not limited to his own supporters, but they are a large part of the anti-vaccination people. I would hope that medical considerations would be at the forefront of the Health [Deputy] Minister's considerations, but he has waited long enough, and his term in this capacity is already nearly finished (though he might get the same responsibilities again after the elections whenever they might be), that I wonder if that is the case.
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