A two component vaccine against swine flu is seen at the pharmacy of the university hospital in Essen, Germany. AP/Martin Meissner)
Fines of up to €2,500 ($2,800) could await parents in Germany who fail to vaccinate their children, as panic and an ongoing outbreak of measles spread like wildfire across the nation.
The Australian government is set to pass a law that would withhold child care and other benefits from parents who opt out of vaccinating their children.
Under the “No Jab, No Pay Bill” introduced to Parliament, the “conscientious objector” category would be removed, making parents ineligible for full government benefits for not immunizing their children. Youngsters would only be exempt due to medical reasons.
Republican presidential candidate Carly Fiorina on Friday defended parents’ right to choose whether to vaccinate their children.
At a town hall event in Iowa, a mother of five said that “parental rights for choice and my religious rights for choice are being challenged, and so I want to know what stance you would take to protect both life and my parental rights to make those choices.” Fiorina responded by saying parents should be able to decide against vaccinating their children if doing so conflicts with their religious beliefs.
The U.S. Congress is now entertaining legislation which will make mandatory childhood vaccination schedules currently prescribed by the CDC. The way of enforcing this new and stricter regime is by tying compliance directly to federal funding.
From the bill:
