Mommy Monday: An Open Letter to Anti-Vaccine Parents

This is a little bit of a "political" topic for An Uncomplicated Life Blog, but I've seen a number of articles floating around facebook, the internet, and some idiots on reality TV talking about how they "don't want to vaccinate their kids because there's "stuff" in those shots." And I just had to weigh in on this. Because I now have a baby, and this directly effects me.

Allllllright, anti-vaxers. Let's just take a quick look at science, and history, and real facts here, shall we?

You "choosing" not to vaccinate your child is indeed not a choice for you. You're putting your child at risk for death, becoming disabled, becoming disfigured, paralyzed, and speech deprived. It's not a choice you're making for you; it's one you're electing to put your own child at risk for. Also, you're putting other children and adults at risk, too:

Likely, you've not seen what the measles have done to the people who survive the disease. Do you know that polio causes paralysis? Do you know that whopping cough KILLS? What you're telling me by not immunizing your child is that you'd rather your child suffer or become disfigured than give him/her a shot to prevent it, based on science-less propaganda. You're telling me you'd rather your child die than become exposed to "some bad stuff." You'd elect death over the what you fear is in immunizations. (There's nothing to fear; The CDC fully discloses what in immunizations. Go to the CDC's website for more info.)

What measles looks like on a baby

Here are some questions for you, anti-vaxer parent: Do you have a microwave in your house you use to warm food? Do you use cell phones? Do you feed your kid from plastic bottles, plates, utensils? Do you sometimes get fast food because the kids are begging for it and you're tired? If you answered yes to any of these questions, you've just exposed your kid to far more harmful "stuff" than is in any vaccine.

Now, I'm all about holistic health! I love and use essential oils. I eat local and organic food, don't even think about fast food drive thru's, and feed my son with glass bottles. We don't have plastic storage containers (think GladWare or similar) in my house. We spend twice what we should on diapers because I refuse to put the chemicals that are in Pampers/Huggies/Luvs on my son's skin, the biggest absorbing organ in the human body. I'm totally on board with that line of thinking! But guess what? You still need to vaccinate your kids. Living a healthy lifestyle isn't enough to protect them (or other children, or other adults) from creating and spreading an epidemic.

There has been scientific study after scientific study that disproves immunizations cause Autism. Here's one for reference. Also there's more mercury in breast milk than what is found in vaccines. Vaccines have been tested extensively since the 1930's for their effectiveness and safety, which is longer than nearly any drug currently on the market. It just doesn't make sense to me if you're taking birth control or blood pressure medicine but electing to not vaccinate your children!

Here's the deal, anti-vaxer parent: Public schools are starting to ban your kids. More schools will follow, as your kids cause more localized epidemics. The truth is, your children are a danger to society. Please, please go vaccinate your children. Not just for the health of your own baby, but for the better health of everyone's babies.

                                                                                     Xoxo Stay the heck away from me and my family