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Do Americans still have the liberty to choose?Posted Tuesday, January 12, 2010, at 1:16 PM
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."
Declaration of Independence of the United States of America How far removed have we come from this initial statement made at the very birth of what was to become the United States? An article published by ABC News, "Doctors May 'Fire' Parents Who Don't Vaccinate Children" has made me second guess how far we have backtracked. The article outlines a case where a mother (in California) refused to have her second child vaccinated because of her belief that her first child got autism from his vaccination. Therefore when she asked her doctor for a check up of her second child the doctor refused to treat the child and basically told them to find another doctor, which has been almost impossible to do. I won't weigh in on the autism factor, because I have not researched or read enough to know one way or another. What infuriates me about the situation is the fact that doctors refuse to treat a child, or anyone, for not getting "doctor" recommended shots. Do we not have unalienable Rights as parents and as citizens of the United States to live our LIFE with the LIBERTY to say "We don't want this for us. Should our children want it when they come of age, fine, but as of now we are in PURSUIT OF our HAPPINESS." What will happen when the government decides once and for all they are taking over healthcare? Will they decide that anybody without the right shots will be turned away at clinics and hospitals across the country? Will we be strapped down to take their versions of flu vaccines and small pox and gardasil and the like? Are our CHOICES not ours to make anymore? Are we truly living the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness? It doesn't matter statistically whether these vaccines are good for us or not, the matter at hand is our liberty. After all the very definition of Liberty is "freedom from control, interference, obligation, restriction, hampering conditions, etc.; power or right of doing, thinking, speaking, etc., according to choice." And who has control when we're being told what to put into our bodies? I'll close on this thought: I am not telling you what you should or shouldn't get in vaccines, but I encourage you to be informed (on your own and through independent resources) about each vaccine you or your children get, and let them be your CHOICE and not a government that only knows you as a number. Comments Showing comments in chronological order [Show most recent comments first] |
An intro to Parenting 101 and the author...
Because parenting is something that is taught best from experience, mostly the parents experience (as every child is different), I have decided to blog about the most touching (and annoying, and funny) things about raising my daughter. I claim to be no expert and will do my best not to shove any advice down your throat. I have progressed from being a single mother to a married mother (now of a seven year old first grader) and I myself, always LOVE advice and what works from one parent to another. This column may not always be about parenting either, as it may concern what I think (it is a blog after all) and my husband may put in his two cents worth now and them. But, most of all I just hope to vent and maybe make someone laugh every now and then.
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It's sad that this child out in California will not get the medical treatment it might need but unfortunately that is the choice, in this case wrong choice, of the parent. This is also a prime example of why health care is NOT a basic human right. One can only have a basic human right in and of just being human. To get that health care one must take something from another. In this case a doctor's knowledge.
I hope this child survives till it is old enough to make it's own decisions.
I have always believed that basic health care should be available to everyone, much like school is available to everyone. It should be elective of the person receiving it and their parents/guardians for minors.
ADifferentView, I agree with you. I think Pilot is mistaking the idea of healthcare as a human right with ACCESS to healthcare as a human right. Additionally, he's confusing the idea of buying the services of a doctor with simply taking it. By his definition, denying someone health care is a human right, but access to it is not.