Vaccinations are recommended and encouraged but should not be mandated.

Although measles has made a recent comeback in America since its documented eradication in 2000, the choice of  vaccination still needs to rest with the parents of the child.

In the latest outbreak, 141 cases occurred since December in seven states and Mexico. Health officials from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDCP) attribute it to an overseas traveler infected with the virus who visited Disneyland in California which has suffered the greatest number of cases.

Despite the epidemic, individual rights must  not be compromised.

The government should not be interfering in citizens’ medical choices.

“If the State can tag, track down and force citizens against their will to be injected with biological products of known and unknown toxicity today, there will be no limit on which individual freedoms the State can take away in the name of the greater good tomorrow,” Barbara Loe Fisher, co-founder of the National Vaccine Information Center, said.

Mandating vaccinations violates the Constitution and encroaches on personal freedoms.

“Freedom over one’s physical person is the most basic freedom of all, and people in a free society should be sovereign over their own bodies,” Ron Paul said, former U.S. Rep.

The First Amendment protects freedom of choice, including religion and medical choices or procedures. Mandated vaccinations breach this boundary. Some religions, including the Dutch Reformed Church, oppose vaccinations for its followers as they believe that vaccines interfere in their relationship with God.

Vaccines can prompt serious, and sometimes even fatal side effects, because they contain harmful ingredients that can react adversely. For example, some vaccines contain aluminum. An excessive amount of aluminum can lead to neurological damage.  Some flu vaccines also have a compound that is used as an antiseptic and can be a respiratory and skin irritant.

One could argue that public health is a primary concern, and vaccines help to maintain that health. However, even in hard times, individual rights are not to be infringed upon. Just like any other conflicting time for our country, personal freedoms still deserve to be respected. The government must not contravene the principles the country was founded on.

The anti-vaccination argument has been around for years but comes to light in times of outbreaks, such as now. Ultimately, the argument doesn’t revolve around medical procedures. Instead individual rights must be maintained and guarded and should never be questioned or interrupted.