Majority Support Parental Vaccination Choice

[emma1325]

http://www.forbes.com/feeds/prnewswi...__DC09375.html

"...poll results indicate a majority of American parents, 52%, believe that "parents should have the right to decide which vaccines their children receive without government mandates."

Parents answered other questions consistently. 54% of parents are "concerned that the pharmaceutical industry has undue influence over government vaccine mandates." 54% agree that "the government should fund an independent scientific study of fully vaccinated vs. unvaccinated individuals to assess long-term health outcomes." 48% of parents are "concerned about serious adverse effects of vaccines...""

[caned & able]

But, of course!

Was there ever any question?

[heathergirl67]

Frankly, I'm surprised that the numbers are so low! And I tend to be much more pro-vax than others.

[tanyalynn]

Oh my goodness, I find this terribly depressing. The Center for Personal Rights conducted the study--I don't know anything about them, but when this is one of the questions they asked....

"all children should receive 69 doses of 16 vaccines before age 18, as recommended by the federal government."

...and it's only 42% that agree, well, imagine how low the number would've been if the question had been worded, "Do you agree that all children should be fully vaccinated, on-time as the AAP recommends?"

Based on what's in that article, it looks like they chose their words carefully, to increase the number of people who agreed with the statements.

And when only 52% agree with something like...

"parents should have the right to decide which vaccines their children receive without government mandates."

... that says something. The phrase "government mandate" seems loaded to me.

To me, this study highlights that a lot of parents haven't thought much about vaccines. A parent can certainly decide to vaccinate their child for something that is usually benign like chicken pox, but if they've thought about it, it seems reasonable to accept that other parents may not make the same decision, and that's not a bizarre choice.

I think the word vaccine still has inordinate power.