On religious and secular exemptions

A case study of childhood vaccination waivers

Dados Bibliográficos

ID6256136
AutoresRoland Pierik (0000-0002-6777-011X, University of Amsterdam, autor correspondente)
Ano2017
Volume17
Fascículo2
Páginas220-241
Data de publicação2017-04-01
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoEthnicities (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 1468-7968 • E-ISSN: 1741-2706
EditoraSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/1468796817692629
PMID28546785
OpenAlexW2503605391
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas3
Referências citadas34

This paper analyses exemptions to general law through the prism of vaccine waivers in the United States. All US states legally require the vaccination of children prior to school or daycare entry; however, this obligation is accompanied with a system of medical, religious, and/or philosophical exemptions. Nonmedical exemptions became subject of discussion after the 2015 Disneyland measles outbreak in California, which unequivocally brought to light what had been brewing below the surface for a while: a slow but steady decline in vaccination rates in Western societies, resulting in the reoccurrence of measles outbreaks. This can be traced back to an increasing public questioning of vaccines by a growing anti-vaccination movement. In reaction to the outbreak and the public outrage it generated, several states proposed—and some already passed—bills to eliminate nonmedical exemptions. I analyze two questions. First, can legal exemptions from mandatory childhood vaccination schemes for parents who are opposed to vaccination (still) be justified? Second, should legal exemptions be limited to religious objections to vaccination, or should they also be granted to secular objections? Although the argument in the paper starts from the example of the US, it seeks to provide a more general philosophical reflection on the question of exemptions from mandatory childhood vaccination

Argument (complex analysis · Measles · Obligation · Outrage · Political science · Politics · Vaccination · Ethics and Legal Issues in Pediatric Healthcare · Hate Speech and Cyberbullying Detection · Law · Medicine · Vaccine Coverage and Hesitancy · Virology