keepcalmandblank asked: In regards to your recent post defending previous statements against unconsented circumcision... Are you pro or con on vaccinating children? My logic is that with the studies saying it is a health benefit to have your child circumcised, it can almost be equated to vaccinating your child. I'm just wondering if you also see this as a parallel?
I’m against mandatory vaccinations, but that doesn’t mean that I’m against vaccinations. A commenter on my entry about circumcision wrote:
A vaccine carries a very low risk to the individual and provides enormous good to both individuals and community health. (I mean, yes, some people believe giving children any vaccination violates their safety and autonomy. But those people are idiots who have no interest in the greater good.) By equating the HPV vaccine with circumcision as a personal decision that should be left to sexually active adults—and as something that would have a direct link to a person’s sexuality—you are kind of reinforcing the stigma against it. HPV is a VERY common disease, and the vaccines are just a few shots.
Invasive or not, vaccinations are something that individuals should be able to decide on themselves. Requiring them means that the government is essentially making health decisions for its citizens, without taking into account what they (or their parents) may want. (Most girls getting the vaccine are at an age when they can be informed about the benefits and risks of the procedure.) I got the HPV vaccine myself, and I’d recommend it to anyone, but I would never be able to justify mandating it, because I value personal freedom and think that choice should be left up to the patient.
And while, of course, it makes sense — in theory — to say that a modicum of personal freedom is a rather minor sacrifice for the “greater good”, it’s not like this line of reasoning hasn’t been abused in the past. Women — especially women of color and poor women — have more than just cause to be wary of a medical establishment that has historically profited from the coercion of marginalized groups. Forced sterilization of Black women threatened with the loss of welfare benefits, forced sterilization of individuals deemed “mentally defective”, electroshock aversion therapy to cure homosexuality … all of these things occurred in this country in the last fifty years. Frankly, I could give less of a damn about “public health” if it means that I get to live in a slightly more civilized society where no one is told what to do with their bodies anymore.
More burning questions? Ask Lena.
