The vaccination debate has been one making headline news recently. With many parents in support of vaccinating their kids, others are against the process, saying that there can be complications and issues when administering vaccinations to babies and infants. The debate has caused a huge divide across the nation between parents and doctors alike.
Recently, California has been considering a bill to make it harder for parents to forgo vaccinations.
California has been trying to pass Senate Bill-276. The bill would prohibit a school or any other institution from admitting any student or child who has not received or obtained proper vaccinations.
The current law in California does require children to receive immunizations before attending most schools and day cares.
However, many lawmakers in California said that some doctors are granting parents and children too many exemptions from receiving vaccines. Therefore, the bill suggests that the California Department of Public Health reviews exemptions for children who attend schools with high exemption rates.
Many parents are in support of the bill, as some parents are forgoing vaccines for personal reasons, rather than actual medical exemptions.
Some parents believe that vaccines can be linked to disabilities and defects, and decide to not vaccinate their children due to these personal beliefs. However, this leaves many children open and compromised to vaccine-preventing illnesses, such as measles.
Recently, there have been several outbreaks of measles across the United States.
Many children had become compromised after unvaccinated children developed the illness, which can be prevented when receiving the proper immunization at an early age.
Therefore, more parents are pushing for government authorities to mandate vaccines.
Many parents are calling for government mandated support so that parents cannot just opt out of vaccinating their kids due to personal opinions and beliefs. Instead, only those children whose health would be compromised from receiving a vaccine would be exempt.
Kristen Bell and Dax Shepard were two parents in California who spoke out in support of this new bill.
The couple has been extremely outspoken over the years on fundamental issues in the press and media spotlight. This time around, both Kristen and Dax showed support for the bill and for vaccinating children.
Dax posted this tweet online, stating that parents need to make the right choice.
He compared parents not vaccinating their children to parents not using car seats, which, of course, sounds ridiculous. He even made a hilarious hashtag stating that parents are not doctors, and “measel tov,” a play on Mazel Tov.
Kristen quoted her husband’s tweet and added her own take on the debate.
She said that under the new bill, all of the children who are medically exempt from vaccines will still be protected and can sit out from the immunizations, which many parents were arguing for.
She added that the bill safeguards the kids who do have compromised immune systems from diseases that can be prevented by vaccines.
And, physicians cannot complete those exemption forms without proper proof.
Kirsten finalized her thread by saying that as a mother, she wants her children, and other children, to be safe.
She asked Twitter followers to support the bill and help support science-based public health policies.
Many people online were in support of both Kristen and Dax’s tweets.
Many doctors and pediatricians reached out to the couple to say thank you for spreading the “right” information to people online. Others were parents who thanked them for supporting their immune-compromised children.
However, there were those who were angry and against the couple’s beliefs.
One Twitter user said that Bell was “severely misinformed,” as there is no legitimate science to back up the efficacy and safety of vaccinations. Therefore, while her intentions are good, her information was wrong.
Others chimed in, agreeing that the science just isn’t there.
Another Twitter user said that there is no testing and no science that proves the vaccinations are working. This user also called pharmaceutical companies the “devil’s land.”
There were those who even said that Kristen pushed, “out a baby, not a PhD.”
However, many people online pointed to facts to prove that vaccines do work.
One Twitter user pointed out that measles was declared eliminated from the U.S. in 2000, but, was then reintroduced to the population after parents began to refuse vaccinations —stating that immunizations really only work if people get them.
It looks like Kristen and Dax aren’t going to be swayed by the backlash they received online.
Whether or not you like Kristen Bell and Dax Shepard, one thing is for sure—they’re looking out for their children and the children of California who can benefit from receiving vaccines to prevent infectious diseases, and, helping those who can be compromised from these diseases, too.
