Louise Kuo Habakus - Vaccine Epidemic: How Corporate Greed, Biased Science, and Coercive Government Threaten Our Human Rights, Our Health, and Our Children

The pro-vaccine camp strongly supports U.S. vaccination policy. Two new books published in early 2011 advance this position: Paul Offits Deadly Choices and Seth Mnookins The Panic Virus. These books join Arthur Allens Vaccine , Susan Jacobys The Age of American Unreason, and Michael Specters Denialism in their critique of those who question vaccine safety. Here are their key arguments:

1. Government officials are best qualified to make vaccination decisions . Only government can ensure that a sufficiently high percentage of people vaccinate to preserve societal herd immunity.
2. Vaccines are overwhelmingly safe and effective , and the benefits vastly outweigh the risks. Adverse events are vanishingly rare.
3. Science proves the benefit of vaccines beyond a reasonable doubt. The science is invaccines are not responsible for any increase in common childhood health problems, including autism. Theyre safe and effective.
4. Vaccine refusers are dangerous and selfish . People who elect not to vaccinate are parasites. They are selfish, irrational, and threaten others with deadly disease.
5. Only false prophets suggest that vaccines may cause disorders like autism . Quack healthcare practitioners concoct unfounded treatments for autism and prey on vulnerable parents desperate for help. People should disdain and shun them.
6. Vaccine exemptions should be abolished . Dr. Offit and others suggest that states should abolish philosophical and religious exemptions. People abuse them and put others at risk. Because vaccines have been proven safe and effective, people have a social responsibility to vaccinate.

This book details the pro-vaccination choice perspective in law, religion, science, ethics, philosophy, and personal experience. Here are its key points:

1. Vaccination choice is a human right. Because vaccination poses a risk to life, liberty, and security of person, only an individual or guardian may decide how, when, and whether to vaccinate.
2. Society as a whole benefits from the cumulative impact of free and informed individual healthcare choices. The theory of herd immunity is not an adequate rationale for state compulsion to vaccinate.
3. Vaccine safety science is flawed and incomplete . The Institute of Medicine as well as informed scientists, doctors, and officials have repeatedly acknowledged that fundamental questions about vaccine safety remain unanswered.
4. The U.S. vaccine program is rife with conflicts of interest . Vaccines are big business and all of their promoterspharma, government, medicine, and scienceget their cut. The vaccine program does not put childrens safety first.
5. Biomedical interventions are valid . Considerable science and anecdotal evidence support biomedical interventions for autism spectrum disorders and other chronic conditions. These interventions include diet, vitamin and mineral supplementation, chelation, and gastrointestinal treatment. Individuals are entitled to the practitioners and remedies of their choosing.
6. Vaccination exemption rights must expand, not contract. Individuals have the right to free and informed consent for all medical interventions, including vaccination. In practice, not just in theory, individuals must have the right to make their own decisions.

As polarized as these camps are, we do share common ground. Both sides want a healthy, vibrant society. Both sides want responsible health policy grounded in ethics and science. Both sides see the vaccination issue as hugely important and seek to sway the public. Both sides are doing the work to understand each others analysis and arguments. Progress will not come from shadowboxing in our respective corners. It is now time for engagement and dialogue.

So, we invite the leaders of the pro-vaccine campin government, industry, and the professional medical associationsto publicly debate our different views. And, we invite the reader to read on.

Louise Kuo Habakus, MA, and Mary Holland, JD