Parent 1

Allyson Parent

Jackie Burr, Instructor

English 2010

16 May 2019

Vaccinations; Are They Safe?

Studies have shown both sides of the argument on vaccinations and immunizations. Some

parents believe that their children are safer without getting them whereas some parents believe

they save lives. So who is right? Lauren Haertlein shares her opinion on vaccinations in her

article “Immunizing Against Bad Science: The Vaccine Court and the Autism Test Cases.”

Haertlein believes that vaccines are not safe and uses studies on vaccines and autism to prove her

point. I believe that vaccines are safe and they do save lives. While I do know there are side

effects for vaccines, the benefits outweigh them.

In her article, Haertlein states, “Vaccines have been described as ‘the next big toxic-tort

battleground’” (Haertlein, 2). She focuses too much on the negative. Her whole article is about

the side effects about vaccines and how they can cause autism. What about the positives? What

about the benefits? Vaccines protect people from deadly diseases. We have eraicated many

childhood diseases from the US even the world due to vaccines. I believe this outweighs any side

effect vaccines might have.

The stats on someone having the rare side effects due to obtaining a vaccine, are

staggeringly low. Parents worry too much that their child could have side effects from vaccines

when they hear about them. They fail to realize the extremely low amount of children being

effected by these side effects. Many of the side effects happen 1 in 100,000 children. Haertlein
 Parent 2

misses the numbers and focuses on the actual effects. I believe that everyone should be given the

opportunity to see these numbers. Then they can decide given all the facts.

I believe in the freedom to choose; this is America after all. But I also believe in the

health and safety of everyone in the nation. By parents not vaccinating their children our nations

herd immunity is being damaged. We are become less and less safe everyday. Outbreaks of the

measles have already occured. How far are we willing to take it?

I believe that everyone has the right to decide what to do with their own health. But I also

believe that they need to be fully informed before making that choice. Many parents look to the

internet and blogs for information. A lot of that information is not reliable and is not based on

factual evidence. These parents and turned away from vaccines when they read articles like

Haertleins. We need this to change. We need to feel safe and happy in our country. This can not

happen until people put aside those articles and vaccinate their children. I believe that

vaccinating children is safe and will benefit them.

 Parent 3

Works Cited

Haertlein, Lauren L. “Immunizing against Bad Science: The Vaccine Court and the Autism Test

Cases.” ​Law & Contemporary Problems​, vol. 75, no. 2, Mar. 2012, pp. 211–232.

EBSCOhost,​

search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=88916105&site=ehost-live.