(The Center Square) – One Wisconsin lawmaker is pushing back on the narrative from the state’s public health managers about who has not gotten all of their vaccines.
Rep. Lindee Brill, R-Sheboygan Falls, said she was bothered to hear Wisconsin’s top public health doctor dismiss questions about why some people may have opted out of the MMR shot.
“Throughout the conversation about the measles cases in Oconto County, Dr. [Ryan] Westergaard framed the narrative squarely around what he calls ‘low vaccination rates,’ linking these directly with Wisconsin parents’ right to obtain a waiver for their children from the school vaccine requirements for reasons of personal conviction, health concern, or religious belief,” Brill said. “However, there was little to no discussion of why a parent might choose to seek this waiver.”
Brill co-sponsored a piece of legislation that would have schools and daycare centers give parents forms to opt out of some vaccines based on religious or other objections.
Brill said parents need to know their rights, and the state needs to accept their decisions.
“The rights of parents are not negotiable and ought to be reinforced, not eroded,” she said. “If DHS is concerned about low vaccination rates, they should work diligently to remedy the root cause of parents’ concern regarding the vaccine, not treat their right to act in accord with that concern as an inconvenient obstacle.”
Brill said some parents object to the rubella vaccine because she said it is made with “cells from aborted children.”
Wisconsin this week reported that 86.4% of school children had all of their shots last school year. That’s down almost 3% from the year before, but mainly because there was a new meningitis vaccine added to last year’s list.
DHS also reported that 6.7% of Wisconsin children have opted out of one vaccine. That’s up from just more than 1% in 2000. Though, only just 1% or so of children, have opted-out of all of their vaccinations.
