Arguments To vaccinate or to not vaccinate

To vaccinate or to not?
In summary, the article takes into consideration the consequences that would come about if a parent would make the decision not to vaccinate his or her child. Significantly, the article provides a supposed instance whereby a child that is not vaccinated ends up infecting another child. The comprehension of epidemiological illnesses like measles makes it possible that a persuasive causal association can be created between the decision not to carry out vaccination, and a letdown of not undertaking suitable precautions to isolate a non-vaccinated child who might have been exposed to the illness from highly susceptible persons, and a demise. In a nutshell, the main argument made by the article is that regardless of whether a parent chooses not to vaccinate a child based on exemptions provided by state law, such a decision does not generate full safeguard against liability for the adverse ramifications of that choice (Caplan et al., 2012).
In the case of young Michael, I would also hold Ms. S legally liable for causing harm due to her inaction of failing to vaccinate her child. Without a doubt, Ms. S is allowed to have her individual beliefs regarding vaccines, as this is indicated in the Constitution. Everyone has the right to have individual beliefs. However, this liberty is confined to circumstances whereby such beliefs infringe on the lives of others, which is the state of affairs in this regard. Ms. S is well aware that Jinny has measles, which can be transmitted to other people, yet she chooses to refuse to immunize the child. She is well aware of the ramifications of her choice, and therefore, it can be considered that she is ignorant of the rights of others. Therefore, owing to such ignorance, it can be deemed that Ms. S should be held criminally liable for the death of Michael and also pay for the emotional damages Michael’s parents have endured.
In my opinion, I concur with the content contained in the paragraph on p.608. Having ascertained that one has a highly infectious disease, the moral thing to do is to undertake reasonable precautions that might include avoiding contact or warning others to avoid transmission of the disease. This is largely owing to the reason that it is not possible to ascertain the severity of transmitting the disease as it might affect several others. Furthermore, it would be unethical to transmit the disease to people who are more vulnerable, such as having weak immune systems or pre-existing chronic illness who might be worse off after contracting the disease. A fitting instance that can explain this opinion is the prevailing problem that we are currently experiencing with COVID-19. Failure to warn others about the illness and to avoid social distancing has resulted in the protracted transmission of the illness and, consequently, the death of several persons across the globe. Alleviating the transmission of illness is pivotal (Nelson and Williams, 2014).
In the United States, all of the 50 different states have laws necessitating specified vaccines for students. Even though exemptions differ from one state to another, all immunization laws grant exemptions to children for medical purposes. Specifically, at the present moment, there are 45 states as well as Washington D.C that permit religious exemptions for individuals who have religious oppositions to immunizations. Presently, 15 states permit philosophical exemptions for the persons who object to immunizations as a result of personal, ethical, moral, or other philosophies (National Conference of State Legislatures, 2020). This is demonstrated below:
References
Caplan, A. L., Hoke, D., Diamond, N. J., & Karshenboyem, V. (2012). Free to choose but liable for the consequences: should non-vaccinators be penalized for the harm they do? The Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics, 40(3), 606-611.
National Conference of State Legislatures. (2020). States With Religious and Philosophical Exemptions From School Immunization Requirements. Retrieved from: https://www.ncsl.org/research/health/school-immunization-exemption-state-laws.aspx
Nelson, K. E., & Williams, C. M. (Eds.). (2014). Infectious disease epidemiology: theory and practice. Jones & Bartlett Publishers.