When it comes to community health, community decisions should be the standard. The only exemptions should be for valid medical reasons, such as compromised immune systems, and verified by medical professionals. People have the right to make their own decisions, but they don’t have a right to be indemnified against the consequences of their decisions. Parents that enable their children to spread disease should be held accountable, in both civil and criminal court, when others are sickened or killed due to their decisions Schools should stop asking parents who refuse to vaccinate for “belief statements” and they should start asking these parents to submit liability waivers, something like:
“We are aware of the harmful and potentially lethal consequences of the refusal to vaccinate, that the consequences could be lethal for other children as well as my own, that refusal to vaccinate could therefore be potentially construed as a reckless disregard for life and could, in the event of an outbreak traced back to one’s refusal to vaccinate, entail both civil and criminal penalties including criminal negligence, reckless endangerment, and negligent homicide. I hereby declare that [school] has made me aware of these risks. I accept full responsibility for these risks and indemnify the school against for any harms or damages resulting from my decision”.