Obama vs. Republicans on vaccines

Oh, look what I found. Obama tells Americans they should get vaccinated and guess what? Turns out the Republicans who want to replace him have opinions on that:



Vaccination debate flares in GOP presidential race, alarming medical experts

Quote:

CAMBRIDGE, England — Medical experts reacted with alarm Monday as two top contenders for the Republican presidential nomination appeared to question whether child vaccinations should be mandatory — injecting politics into an emotional issue that has taken on new resonance with a recent outbreak of measles in the United States. First, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, while visiting a vaccine laboratory here, called for “some measure of choice” on whether shots guarding against measles and other diseases should be required for children. Then, Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), an ophthalmologist who is also readying a 2016 campaign, said in two U.S. television interviews that he thinks most vaccines should be voluntary, citing “many tragic cases of walking, talking, normal children who wound up with profound mental disorders after vaccines.” How many cases are we talking about which were caused by vaccines, not simply occurred "after" vaccines??? “The state doesn’t own your children,” Paul said on CNBC, praising vaccines for their health benefits but insisting that the government should not mandate their use in most cases. “Parents own the children. And it is an issue of freedom and public health.”

Did he really just say "Parents own the children"?

And what exactly does he mean by “many tragic cases of walking, talking, normal children who wound up with profound mental disorders after vaccines”?



This just reminds me of Paul's father, Ron. He is also allegedly a medical doctor (gynecologist iirc) but he has said some bizarre statements in support of homeopathy and other quackery and proposed legislation that would make it easier for the purveyors of such to make health claims, because "free speech" or whatever:

http://ift.tt/1K5VK8n

http://ift.tt/1K5VKoB



Finally, just because it is awesome, I must cite The Onion's take on the above argument about parental freedom:



I Don’t Vaccinate My Child Because It’s My Right To Decide What Eliminated Diseases Come Roaring Back

Quote:

As a mother, I put my parenting decisions above all else. Nobody knows my son better than me, and the choices I make about how to care for him are no one’s business but my own. So, when other people tell me how they think I should be raising my child, I simply can’t tolerate it. Regardless of what anyone else thinks, I fully stand behind my choices as a mom, including my choice not to vaccinate my son, because it is my fundamental right as a parent to decide which eradicated diseases come roaring back. The decision to cause a full-blown, multi-state pandemic of a virus that was effectively eliminated from the national population generations ago is my choice alone, and regardless of your personal convictions, that right should never be taken away from a child’s parent. Never. . . .

:D