We have many laws on the books that are not only designed to protect us, but are also designed to help other people. But there are loop holes in some laws, closed holes in others and sometimes it comes down to personal responsibility.
The recent outbreak of measles in the United States, which now has more than 700 confirmed cases and at least one case in Alabama, is a big, big red flag.
Measles was once declared eradicated from the United States much like Polio has been eradicated from the United States. I looked up the word 'eradicated' in the dictionary and it said 'To get rid of; eliminate'.
Well, obviously measles has not been eradicated from the United States and I fear the day that polio shows it's ugly face again.
I'll put the blame on the recent measles epidemic square on the shoulders of idiot parents who don't get their children vaccinated against the disease. From what I've read, measles is a very infectious disease that spreads like wildfires to people who have not been vaccinated. The infant that contracted the disease in Alabama was too young for the vaccination, so some other infected person passed it along.
When I was young I grew up on the immediate outside of the polio scare. I remember going to an old school building several times to eat that sugar cube that contained the polio vaccination. Rotary International took on eradicating polio across the globe.
My father grew up when polio was present. I heard the horror stories. I heard about people being quarantined with the disease.
Getting vaccinated for such diseases doesn't only protect the person getting the vaccine, it protects other people from contracting such diseases.
Before you send your children to school they have to bring that 'blue card' that shows they are up-to-date on their vaccinations. I've learned that the federal courts have ruled that people with religious objections don't have to have their children vaccinated. I'm all for religious freedom, but that's a bunch of bull. Exercising that religious freedom does not only put that child at risk, it puts other children at risk as well.
I was proud to learn this week that the Escambia County (Ala.) School System ranks number one in the state by having all students vaccinated. Superintendent John Knott said there has not been a problem and credited the school nurses for staying on top of the situation.
He said if a child enrolls in a county school who has not been vaccinated the nurses work with the parents to make sure they are vaccinated. That help extends beyond just talking to the parents about the importance of vaccinations but to helping arrange transportation to a doctor or the health department to get those children vaccinated. That could come in the form of a voucher to allow the parent and child to take an Escambia County Alabama Transit System bus to the health department.
Would this country give religious freedom to parents who believe in allowing their children to be bitten multiple times by a rattlesnake claiming their goal was to save their souls?
Hey, what if I had a religious belief that I didn't need to put my child in a safety seat while traveling down the road? Can I just tell the state trooper it's against my religion to confine my child so I won't pay that ticket?
I've heard about parents who starved their children to death to get rid of evil spirits. Most of those stories end with the parents being sent to jail. Why didn't they get a free pass based on religious freedom? I've read stories about parents drowning their children to protect them and they also end up in jail.
The terrorists who flew into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon did so in the name of religion.
We all have an obligation to protect our own children and by protecting them we protect others.
If parents aren't vaccinating their children against such things as polio and measles, it's time to hold them accountable. We can actually send a parent to jail for not bringing their child to school, but we can't do anything to a parent who brings an unvaccinated child into a full classroom. Something doesn't smell right with that logic.
