Diseases that we had nearly eliminated here in this country are now raging back. The reason for this is that parents have been granted the "right" to refuse to vaccinate their children. Some are refusing because they mistakenly believe vaccinations can cause autism, and others simply because they see this as some kind of "freedom" right. They are wrong.
This has nothing to do with freedom or rights. Vaccinations are a public health issue, and the growing number of parents refusing to vaccinate their children are putting not only their own children at risk, but also others (especially those too young to have been vaccinated, those who are ill with something else like cancer, those who have had their immune system weakened in some way, and even a tiny amount of healthy people who have been vaccinated (since vaccinations are about 99% effective).
And many people in the United States are getting tired of those people who put others in danger. The charts here were made from a CNN / ORC Poll -- done between February 12th and 15th of a random national sample of 1,027 adults, with a margin of error of about 3 points (slightly higher for the separate groups). Note that 78% of all adults in this country think all children should be required to be vaccinated -- and that feeling runs across all demographic groups (running between 70% and 86%).
And a smaller, but still significant majority of 58% of Americans think children who have not been vaccinated should not be allowed to attend public schools. I agree.
