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Argumentative essay over vaccination religion
Controversial essay vaccines
Argumentative essay over vaccination religion
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Vaccines are one of the most valuable contributions to society. They protect us from serious illnesses and complications from numerous diseases. However, even with access to vaccines, there has been an increase in hospitalizations and deaths, every year, due to children not being vaccinated. One reason for the declination of vaccines are a parent’s fear that the vaccination may cause autism. This fear has caused vaccination rates to steadily decline and has created numerous health concerns within our society. For these reasons, this debate continues to be an on going topic, within the United States. This paper will examine the argument behind the vaccine and autism link, the thimerosal controversy, vaccine avoidance, religious views, moral …show more content…
The Catholic Church also supports the use of vaccines, even though they are strongly against abortion. They feel that since the abortion was not performed for the purpose of producing vaccines, it is acceptable. “Although most religions actually allow the administering of vaccinations, people of similar religious beliefs, may reside in communities that share anti-vaccination beliefs, such as some Christian churches that encourage faith in Divine will. They believe that illness will not occur, unless it is within God’s will. Vaccines are considered to “interfere with God’s will and their acceptance, is perceived as a complete lack of faith.” (Lai, …show more content…
Measles, mumps and rubella are airborne diseases that are easily spread through the air we breathe. Each of these diseases can have devastating effects on the infected person, such as “measles that can cause pneumonia, seizures, brain damage and ultimately death. Mumps can cause deafness, meningitis, painful swelling of the testicles or ovaries, and sterility. Rubella in pregnant women can lead to miscarriages or serious birth defects.” (Vaccines,
In the Frontline episode The Vaccine War, a progressively distressful debate ensues among many scientists and doctors within the public health system and an unnerving alliance of parents, politicians, and celebrities. The topic of debate is the overwhelming pressure parents feel to vaccinate their children and their right to decline such vaccinations. In several American neighborhoods, groups of parents have been exercising their right to refuse vaccinations, which has elevated anxiety on the return of vaccine-preventable diseases such as pertussis and measles. The reason such parents are denying their children various vaccines such as the MMR “triple shot” for measles, mumps, and rubella is because they are convinced that it is linked to autism, a link that has yet to be proven. Many of these parents are focused solely on their children, not taking into account that their decision may put the American populace at risk for disease. Such parents are not thinking about other members of society that vaccines don’t work for, and in certain adolescents the effects deteriorate, thus only when every person is immunized the “heard immunity” is successful.
“Immunizing Against Bad Science: The Vaccine Court and the Autism Test Case,” written by Lauren L. Haertlein, deals with one of today’s most popular controversies; vaccinations causing autism in children. Haertlein’s article gives insight into the history of vaccine litigation and the policies that accompany it. Furthermore, she talks immensely about the Vaccine Court, whose job is to work with petitioner’s stating that a vaccine, such as measles-mumps-rubella (MMR), has caused some illness to their child. The article uses real-life Vaccine Court examples such as Michelle Cedillo’s case, whose mother claimed a vaccination gave her daughter autism, as a way to better understand how the Vaccine Court works. This controversial topic is being discussed daily in magazines, journals, and on talk shows. The families that are blaming autism on vaccinations are giving vaccines a bad name and causing other parents to re-think their decision about getting their children vaccinated.
Each day researchers are finding out about vaccines and are realizing that there are a lot more risks than benefits. Dr Phillip F. Incao explains: “Today, far more children suffer from allergies and other chronic immune system disorders than from life-threatening infectious disease. It is neither reasonable nor prudent to persist in presuming that the benefits of any vaccination outweigh its risk” (qtd in Spaker). While infectious diseases are becoming uncommon there is no need for any person to get vaccinated. There have been many issues surrounding vaccinations all around the world.
Despite all the testing and approval process of vaccines, many people still mistakenly believe that vaccines cause autism, even in light of research that has disproven the notion. This evidences the difficulty of dispelling false statements once someone has accepted a falsehood, especially if it has scientific research backing the results. It also highlights the gullibility of the public at large to believe anything that medical research reports without questioning the findings. Unfortunately, the media attention such examples of junk science receive aids in convincing many of its truthfulness. The hype surrounding the belief that vaccines cause autism began in 1998 when Andrew Wakefield in the UK published an article in the Lancet linking the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR...
Every year, tens of thousands Americans die from the seasonal flu alone. This alarming statistic is what led the United States government to urge the country to vaccinate themselves, as well as their children every November, when the flu season is fast approaching. Though countless Americans do follow the government’s plea, many others insist that these vaccines distributed every year (as well as other year-long vaccines) contain an abnormally high amount of thimerosal, (a mercury-based chemical in vaccines designed to prevent the growth of bacteria) which could eventually lead to autism. This generation of fear is what has led many concerned parents to refuse to vaccinate their children, who seem to be the most vulnerable to this disease. However, can we really trust a rumor to fuel our doubts of America’s struggle to fight disease among our people? Can we discontinue our trust in the health department because of paranoia? No. Even if autism may be an effect of these vaccines, it is our duty, our responsibility to protect the good of the public by preventing an outbreak of this infl...
Despite the doctors’ reassurances and mounting evidences about the safety and value of immunization, many parents are still wary about getting their children injected. Some even opposed it because they fear that the vaccine itself is not benign. It is often considered unnecessary in many cases because the illnesses don’t pose a big threat to the child’s life. However, others point out that they help eradicate many contagious illnesses and prevent many deaths. For example, polio and smallpox, once killed thousands of children, are eliminated because of the use of vaccines. There were many studies conducting to show whether it can trigger serious reactions and disorders. In 1998, Andrew Wakefield published an observation of 12 children that linked the measles, mumps, and rubella combination vaccine with intestinal problems which he believed led to autism. Once people heard this news, they become alarmed. However, many large studies had been conducted and found no association between the t...
Illness has been a major part of humankind’s lives almost since the beginning of time. Throughout history, illnesses caused fatal epidemics that caused deaths between young and old, and brought fear upon all for the absence of a cure. Having an illness throughout most of history was considered an inevitable death sentence, as the majority of causes of death (Offit). Vaccinations have been experimented in China and Turkey in the 15th century, with methods such as inhaling or rubbing grounded up smallpox scabs against open cuts (Clem). Then in 1700s, the first form of modern vaccination was invented by Edward Jenner with the cowpox virus acting against smallpox, giving immunity against it (Offit).
Childhood vaccinations have received a lot of media in the past few years, and parents continue to question whether or not they should have their children vaccinated. This topic is a very important issue because it seems to be a trend in our society where parents are not vaccinating their children. This then leads their children becoming more susceptible to unnecessary diseases/viruses that can be prevented with vaccines. The focus of the following articles was on the association of the specific vaccines measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR), and vaccines containing thimerosal, which has been a speculated reason for the cause of autism. This contentious hypothesis has many parents failing to vaccinate their children; this is especially true of many friends and family members of mine. They believe that vaccines can cause autism, and I want to prove otherwise.
Some religions object vaccines because of the ethical dilemma of using human tissue cells to make vaccines. For example, the Catholic Church understands the importance of vaccines and the protection of individual health, but they believe members should find an alternative other than vaccines. Catholics generally rely on prayer for vaccines and believe that medical inventions such as vaccines are irrelevant. Catholic religion as well as Mormonism are both against abortion which means they are against vaccines that use human cells derived from aborted fetuses. Religions like Christianity believe that our body is like a temple that houses the holy spirt and we should not pollute it with vaccines. For example, a vaccine is a manmade invention used to alter our immune system to protect us from disease, and the immune system is a gift from God that protects our body from diseases. So when we trust in vaccines in which are made by humans we are saying that God didn’t make us right and so we need to correct him. By doing that we are questioning God and that is against Christianity. Another religion that has historically been against vaccines is Jehovah Witnesses, because they believe the human body is sacred and whatever kind of disease you have is a gift from God and you should not contaminate your body with other human/
For example, medical researchers argue that vaccines and autism are not linked, but rather the development of autism and other brain abnormalities simply occurs in the same period of a child’s life as their measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccination. At the same time, it presents the point that these vaccinations include dangerous chemicals such as mercury and thimerosal which are extremely toxic. And while he strives to present both sides equally, it is clear that Palfreman favors the side of vaccinations. The majority of footage focuses on how medical research has disproven a link between autism and vaccines, while the parents are given small moments to share their opinions and experiences. The documentary paints a picture of parents who are simply paranoid and are ignoring one of medicine’s greatest innovations for unfounded reasons. In this way, the director shows bias in favor of medical opinion, rather than give equal representation of both
Now it is rare for a child to get the measles. The decline in the disease has been attributed to vaccinations and their high success rate. According to ‘Childhood Vaccinations are Important for Public Health”, “by vaccinating we will make sure these 14 diseases will not become everyday events for our children.”. There are quite a few reasons why parents should not vaccinate their children. Some believe that it will cause harm to their children because of rumors.
In recent years, the correlation between vaccines and autism has become the subject of much debate. On one side, there are the anti-vaccinators, or anti-vaccers. On the other, there’s pretty much everyone else. Despite the fact that the anti-vaccination movement has little base in scientific fact, their campaign to end early infanthood vaccinations rages on. While doctors and scientists try desperately to make parents look at the research studies, vaccination rates continue to fall. But, even in these dark times, there is still hope that scientific fact will prevail and defeat the anti-vaccination fear mongers who have caused many children to fall ill and even die because their parents did not properly vaccinate them. This is one of the most saddening scientific failures of the twenty-first century. A failure to educate the public properly has resulted in child, even infant, fatalities. The anti-vaccination movement was started based on falsified data and continues only because of a lack of knowledge and proper education of the general public.
Vaccines against diphtheria, polio, pertussis, measles, mumps and rubella, and more recent additions of hepatitis B and chicken pox, have given humans powerful immune guards to ward off unwelcome sickness. And thanks to state laws that require vaccinations for kids enrolling in kindergarten, the U.S. presently enjoys the highest immunization rate ever at 77%. Yet bubbling beneath these national numbers is the question about vaccine safety. Driven by claims that vaccinations can be associated with autism, increasing number of parents are raising questions about whether vaccines are in fact harmful to children, instead of helpful (Park, 2008).
Recently the number of parents who are intentionally delaying their children’s general vaccinations is increasing. The controversy that is causing the number of delayed vaccinations to go up is based on the fact that there are negative articles connecting them to autism and other similar diseases. When parents are researching vaccinations and they read those negative articles, those articles make them believe that vaccines cause autism. Vaccines are important because they protect humans from preventable diseases and getting them could save human lives. Vaccines are important throughout life no matter what some research suggests. Parents are now more likely to intentionally delay vaccines because of negative press, even though vaccines
The third and most essential reason that the United States should enforce national inoculation pertains to the concept that vaccines can support not only individual immunity, but also herd immunity to protect those who are medically incompatible with vaccines. A prevailing argument that pro-volunteer individuals frequently make is that vaccines have the potential to be harmful to individuals; a primary motive behind this pertains to an alleged correlation that exists between thimerosal, a component of vaccines, and countless disorders including autism (Benjamin, 2003). According to Barbara Loe Fisher, president of the National Vaccine Information Center, “When you take a look at the ever-increasing numbers of doses of vaccines babies have received over the past two decades and you see this corresponding rise in chronic disease and disability in our children, it is out of control” (Benjamin, 2003). Many speculated that the mercury contained within the thimerosal was to blame for this.