When I was living in Santa Clara County, California, an amazing courtroom drama took place. A family refused medical treatment for their child for religious reasons. The child, present, in the courtroom, was dying. The judge, whose name I wish I could remember, ruled against the parents and accompanied the car carrying the child to the Stanford Medical Center in case the police had any questions about why the car was speeding. The child lived.
Contrast that with Rand Paul, so-called libertarian, who was quoted in today’s Times saying the right to refuse to vaccinate one’s child was a matter of “freedom.” Mr. Paul said, “The state doesn’t own your children. Parents own the children.”
Actually, Mr. Paul, they don’t. Parents can’t sexually exploit their children. They can’t send them off to work 16 hours a day. They can’t refuse to give their children life-saving blood transfusions. They can’t beat their children to death.
Children are part of our community, and we can demand that they get vaccinated for measles so they--and our own children--don’t die.
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