Um, yes. Doctors have a right to choose their patients who don't accept their medical advice. They don't have a right to refuse care because they think you are too fat or the wrong race.
Isn't being fat the same thing as going against medical advice? Last time I checked, most doctors weren't advising people to be fat.
It's alarming how many people think it's ok for doctors to refuse to see patients. They may be privately run doctors but they provide a public service. It's like saying that teachers can refuse to teach your children because they don't vaccinate to the full schedule (or at all) Oh, wait, they actually do that in the **&^^^% state I live in. Refusing to see patients does NOTHING to improve patients health, in fact, it may endanger their health by making them unlikely to seek health care. How many people have eight hours of free time to take their kid to the ER to see if they have an ear infection etc. Perhaps you would feel differently if you lived in a state that already controls people with such ridiculous legislations. There are two states that will not allow kids to go to school without a completed vaccination schedule. The last time I checked, I was the parent in charge of keeping my child safe and I get to decide whether I want my kid to have a flu shot, or a chicken pox shot, or gasp, an hpv shot. (which I am not sure if that one is required yet here, but if they decide to add it to the list, that means all parents MUST give it, or their children can not attend school) You can't mandate that kids go to school and then make it impossible for them to attend. Or mandate that kids visit doctors but then make it impossible for them to find a doctor who will take them. I guess I should say you SHOULDN'T do that. You CAN, but you SHOULDN'T. All of you parents out there who say yes, it's ok, try to see the situation beyond your intense and irrational fear of catching something from some non vaccinated kid. This is not just an issue of vaccines. It's an issue of control. One day, the control measure will be something you disagree with, and what are you going to do then? It is essential that you support non vaccinating parents on this, as it will be your freedoms on the chopping block next time...
Excellent points.
I just want to add one point.
When you really analyze it, what they are mandating for schools and doctor care alike is that a specific set of products (vaccines) be PURCHASED (
and injected).
What this is really about is profits. Not health. Not teaching students. Not healing sick people. Not (as they pretend) minimizing diseases, or (the subject they pretend doesn't even exist) minimizing vaccine reactions.
It's about a billions-dollar industry.
What happens if - all - doctors nearby happen to refuse treatment due to their beliefs? Is hospital the only option then? What if the nearest hospital is far?
This is what is happening to my sister, in California, of all places. Not to mention, he had an extreme reaction to his vaccines and almost died. (he still has a permanent seizure disorder, that developed right after his shots) The neurologist reluctantly agrees they might not give him the DTaP again, as it is the most likely cause of the seizures compared to the other shots, but his regular doctor is kicking them out of the practice. They have been asking around and there are NO doctors within an hour that will accept a patient on his insurance. Not to mention, that if she even CAN find a doctor more than an hour away, she will have to pay for all the costs of driving that far, and they are struggling to make ends meet. She will most likely end up vaccinating him because she is being bullied even though she would rather wait a bit longer to give him the vaccines. It is her right to wait to do so, but the lack of doctors has taken away that right from her. When practices are getting paid for having all their patients vaccinated, this becomes less about the personal feelings of doctors and more about financial incentives they receive for getting 100% vaccine coverage.
I agree with a lot of what you said, but you assume that those of us who agree doctors (private practice) have the right to refuse in this situation are actually pro-vaccine. I am absolutely not in this category and have no fear from non-vax kids (*every* one of my kids' friends are non-vaxxed, and we have refused boosters entirely so far). I would answer the same if I had been entirely non-vax.
If it was an issue of a publicly mandated control measure, I would disagree with it then. But if it is the private, professional opinion that a doctor does not want to work with patients who disagree with something they feel strongly about, I support that however much I might disagree with the actual decision and the reasons behind it.
ETA: I seem to have misread a little, but even after getting the point, I decided to keep this post. I do disagree with public vaccine mandates.
You're right SweetSilver, I did assume too much here. I do feel that the majority of those who want to kick people out of medical practices or refuse to take them as a patient are those who vehemently argue the safety and effectiveness for all people. But I completely see the point that some people simply support the doctors' right to choose who they see based on their beliefs above any other factors. I tend to lean that way too-- It would be nice not to have the government telling private practices what they can and can't do all the time. The less government interference, the better. This situation is just so tricky because in certain localities people get CPS called on them because they won't vaccinate, or because they don't go to the doctors etc. I just feel there can't be legislation enforcing us to go to doctors, but then not providing doctors willing to see us. I see this new problem as insurance related. The big insurance companies are giving incentives to practices for fully vaccinating their charges. Whether the government is pushing them to do that, or the insurance companies feel they will have less risk of paying out on VPD I have no idea.
What about the idea of public physicians? Do they even exist here - in the US? If they're paid by our tax dollars - can they still refuse treatments based on personal beliefs?
By the way, in countries with universal health care - are there publicly-funded physicians? How does it work?
@americastamps - what's happening to your sister ... that's just awful ...
By the way, in countries with universal health care - are there publicly-funded physicians? How does it work?
Canada: That is exactly how they are funded. A portion of my taxes goes towards health care. I have a health care card. When I go to the doctor or hospital I show them my card, they send the bill to the government. Not everything is covered by health care - but most stuff is.
What if they tell you to lose weight and you don't? Or suggest gastric and you refuse? Should they be able to terminate you?
"Damn it lady! How many times have I told you??? You're terminated!" BAM! 
"You were gonna die a slow, expensive death anyway, and you just annoyed me for the last time!"
Oh, so sorry.....
Forgive me for this completely inappropriate moment of levity......
I was just trying to pre-empt somebody saying, "Well, you could always homeschool." Forgive the rant, but it drives me crazy when vaccine skeptics say that in response to laws that attack exemptions. The fundamental right to informed consent should be available to every family, not just homeschooling ones. 
Anyway, I digress.
It's not even technically a "parenting payment." It's the Family Tax Benefit. Hmm. We're a family. We pay taxes. We should qualify without having to submit a CO form. To me, tax benefits and vaccination status should NOT be equated. What does my kids' vaccination status have to do with getting a family tax rebate? I don't see any requirements for adults to submit proof of boosters to receive tax benefits.
Sorry, just a sticking point for me, as a new-ish resident of Australia who didn't have anything similar in my home country.
http://immunise.health.gov.au/internet/immunise/publishing.nsf/Content/faq-related-payments
If they put that kind of energy into getting people to quit smoking, imagine the health benefits!
If they put that kind of energy into getting people to quit smoking, imagine the health benefits!
Yeah, because over here anyway, the government is essentially saying, "Look, if you want this tax benefit, you have to do what we consider healthy." So, why not ask all people to submit a letter from their GPs attesting that they are non-smokers and that their kids live in a smoke-free home in order to receive said tax benefits also. I mean, if the government is so concerned about our health and is doing the carrot and stick routine. 
Increasingly more insurance companies in the US have started giving price discounts to people who don't smoke and who complete a questionnaire or a workshop or something on healthy/preventative lifestyle habits. My employer and my husband's employer both do.
To be fair, there are doctors that fire patients who wont quit smoking and who arent making strides to lose weight.
http://commonhealth.wbur.org/2012/08/mass-doctor-wont-accept-new-patients-who-are-obese
And I have no article for it, but I know my grandmother went through three separate oncologists who basically told her there was no point in treating her if she was going to keep smoking (she had lung cancer).
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