It’s really quite simple: Throw them
in jail. And, yes, I’m completely serious.
We’ve all heard about the
anti-vaxxer movement and their smug insistence that they know better than
actual doctors. We’ve seen their “arguments” that vaccines cause autism persist
even after the source of their claim was utterly and completely debunked.
They just “know” they’re right, and
facts be dammed! Their precious children are too fragile for all those
“dangerous” drugs and no one can force them to “pollute” their loved ones.
Well, fine. Let them not vaccinate.
This is America and people are free to believe whatever pseudoscience nonsense
they want. As long as they’re willing to pay the price in jail time.
It’s not a hard concept to grasp.
When people refuse to vaccinate their child, they are not only gambling with
the lives of their children, they’re gambling with the lives of everyone else’s
children.
But the reason so many spoiled and
affluent people are willing to take that chance is because there are no
consequences when their little Petri dishes spread Measles to dozens of people
at Disneyland.
Why not? They knowingly put other people
at risk. Why shouldn’t they be held accountable?
You see, unlike the flu and the
common cold, diseases like Polio and Measles are easy to prevent.
Therefore, if
parents refuse to vaccinate their children and they spread a preventable
disease, the parents have assaulted everyone their children infect.
Remember, these are not simple
“cough cough I feel better in a few days” afflictions; These are dangerous and
potentially lethal diseases that kill millions of people a year.
At their core, these parents are
self-centered narcissists and, as always, they’ll think of themselves first. We
just have to give them the proper incentives. It really is that simple:
vaccinate or risk going to jail for assault.
And if anyone should die, the
charges should be increased to manslaughter or murder by way of depraved
indifference because let’s face the facts here: Anti-vaxxers know they’re
risking the lives of other people. They just don’t care.
And there is ample legal precedent
for this. We’ve jailed Christian Scientists for letting their children suffer
and die from easily curable afflictions. Anti-vaxxers are no different.
Actually, that’s not true.
Anti-vaxxers are worse. At least Christian
Scientists deprive their children of modern medicine because of a deeply held
religious belief, no matter how misguided it may be. Anti-vaxxers deprive their
children because of a combination of breathtaking arrogance and daytime
television.
Conservatives (who, despite their
general anti-science attitudes, are not at all a significant part of the
anti-vaxxer movement) will back me up on this because they believe in
personal responsibility. Sure, they wouldn’t necessarily like to force people
to vaccinate against their will but that freedom comes with a price and you’d
best be prepared to pay it.
Liberals (the vast majority of which
are not under the sway of anti-vax nonsense) will back me up, too. They
understand, quite well, that putting others at risk is reprehensible.
Just to be clear, I’m not saying the
parents of all unvaccinated children should be at risk of
jail. There are many kids that cannot be vaccinated for perfectly legitimate
reasons (chemotherapy, allergies, naturally compromised immune systems, etc.).
If anything, these are the children we’re trying to protect.
I’m not even saying we should go
after parents of children that are deeply religious and refuse to vaccinate.
Many of the most extreme cases are homeschooled anyway and there just aren’t
enough of them to pose a threat to the public’s health (as evidenced by the fact
that outbreaks of preventable diseases were rare and unusual before the
anti-vax movement).
But the spoiled brats of the
“scientific” anti-vaccine movement? They should not only face prison time but
also massive lawsuits.
The main reason the anti-vax movement
is centered in affluent neighborhoods is that, as Chez Panzienza has suggested, they are so
safe and comfortable in their wealth that they have to make up boogeymen to be
scared of.
If they refuse to fear a preventable
disease that forced people to live in an iron lung, I guarantee they’ll fear the loss
of their comfortable lives whether through prison or crippling lawsuits from
their victims. The threat alone would be like a vaccine against anti-vaxxer
stupidity.
EDITOR’S NOTE: While I agree with the author’s
sentiments, I think we need to try some intermediate steps first, such as
returning to a strict requirement that school children cannot attend school
without producing proof of vaccination – no parental “opt-out” just because
they have some issue with vaccines.
In the interest of public health, I think current
vaccination certificates should be required for all health care, retail and
food service workers and any other occupations that involve contact with lots
of people. Vaccines for communicable diseases should be free and ready
available to all.
It is insane that we should be seeing outbreaks of
measles, mumps, whooping cough, rubella and other diseases we had almost eradicated.