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By Arthur Caplan
The battle over vaccination has taken a fascinating new twist in Rhode Island, where the Department of Health has proposed a policy under which all children between 6 months and 5 years of age would have to be vaccinated against the flu before entering daycare or preschool.
The twist: Along with the usual vaccination opponents, the ACLU has joined the fight — on the critics' side. That is the side that favors letting people get sick, miss work and even die in the name of personal choice.
Hilary Davis of the Rhode Island ACLU rose up at a hearing last week on the proposed mandate, saying the Department of Health doesn't care about what parents think and that "last year's flu shot efficacy rate was around 47 percent," suggesting the state is trying to mandate something of no medical value to babies.
Why do I say the ACLU is off the mark both morally and medically?
...
The battle over vaccination has taken a fascinating new twist in Rhode Island, where the Department of Health has proposed a policy under which all children between 6 months and 5 years of age would have to be vaccinated against the flu before entering daycare or preschool.
The twist: Along with the usual vaccination opponents, the ACLU has joined the fight — on the critics' side. That is the side that favors letting people get sick, miss work and even die in the name of personal choice.
Hilary Davis of the Rhode Island ACLU rose up at a hearing last week on the proposed mandate, saying the Department of Health doesn't care about what parents think and that "last year's flu shot efficacy rate was around 47 percent," suggesting the state is trying to mandate something of no medical value to babies.
Why do I say the ACLU is off the mark both morally and medically?
...
