... to do a survey on how many kids are following the recommended vaccine schedule. Apparently they sent a letter a few days before saying that they were going to do the survey, but my husband opened it, and I never saw it. I wish we'd had a chance to talk about it before the phone call came.
We're selectively vaxing. It's completely legal in our state for any reason, and we're not ashamed of the choices that we've made. I have researched all the diseases and all the vaccines extensively. There are vaccines that we are declining for religious reasons (use of aborted fetuses in vaccines and ties to the abortion industry), some for philosophical reasons (financially irresponsible to vaccinate every child against diseases that don't exist in our part of the world) and some for medical reasons (associated with higher risk of diseases that run in our families). In any case, where I live, nobody would have the right to do anything to my family because of our decisions.
When the phone call came, there was something that made me uncomfortable. It was probably the fact that the CDC obviously had my home phone number and didn't say if the survey was anonymous. It was 8 at night, and I was rushing to get the kitchen cleaned up so that I could get my baby to bed when she got home from her walk with Daddy. I would have answered questions while doing dishes, but would it just be questions, or would it be judgments on my statements? Would the CDC continue to call my house to encourage me to vax? Would "addressing my concerns" be the focus of the next wave of CDC propaganda?
I told her I wasn't interested. When she pressed the issue, I told her I was busy right now and needed to go. We both hung up our phones, and the guilt set in. Their survey was less valid because I said no. I felt really bad because I would have answered the survey except that something about it made me feel uneasy. Of course protecting my family is more important than the validity of their survey, but maybe I needed to stand up for all of us who make informed decisions instead of just listening to propaganda. Where I am, I have little to loose. All I could suffer is inconvenience and judgment.
Help me with my guilt, mammas. Tell me that there are other people out there willing to stand up for your decisions when the CDC calls your home, or tell me that you would also be uncomfortable with that. It just makes me wonder how accurate their survey results are if they are intimidating the people who aren't doing what they suggest.
We're selectively vaxing. It's completely legal in our state for any reason, and we're not ashamed of the choices that we've made. I have researched all the diseases and all the vaccines extensively. There are vaccines that we are declining for religious reasons (use of aborted fetuses in vaccines and ties to the abortion industry), some for philosophical reasons (financially irresponsible to vaccinate every child against diseases that don't exist in our part of the world) and some for medical reasons (associated with higher risk of diseases that run in our families). In any case, where I live, nobody would have the right to do anything to my family because of our decisions.
When the phone call came, there was something that made me uncomfortable. It was probably the fact that the CDC obviously had my home phone number and didn't say if the survey was anonymous. It was 8 at night, and I was rushing to get the kitchen cleaned up so that I could get my baby to bed when she got home from her walk with Daddy. I would have answered questions while doing dishes, but would it just be questions, or would it be judgments on my statements? Would the CDC continue to call my house to encourage me to vax? Would "addressing my concerns" be the focus of the next wave of CDC propaganda?
I told her I wasn't interested. When she pressed the issue, I told her I was busy right now and needed to go. We both hung up our phones, and the guilt set in. Their survey was less valid because I said no. I felt really bad because I would have answered the survey except that something about it made me feel uneasy. Of course protecting my family is more important than the validity of their survey, but maybe I needed to stand up for all of us who make informed decisions instead of just listening to propaganda. Where I am, I have little to loose. All I could suffer is inconvenience and judgment.
Help me with my guilt, mammas. Tell me that there are other people out there willing to stand up for your decisions when the CDC calls your home, or tell me that you would also be uncomfortable with that. It just makes me wonder how accurate their survey results are if they are intimidating the people who aren't doing what they suggest.
