vaccination – Madison Catholic Herald

Wisconsin’s Catholic bishops have issued a statement to address the ability of individuals to seek exemption from COVID-19 vaccination mandates based on conscience objection.

Children should be vaccinated

We are hearing a lot in the news these days about the issue of vaccination of children, primarily because of a nationwide measles outbreak that began in a Disney park in California.

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) report that the current outbreak has resulted in 121 cases of measles in 17 states and the District of Columbia, according to Catholic News Service.

Role of parents

The outbreak has raised concerns about parents who won’t immunize their children for a variety of reasons.

I agree that parents should make the final decision about their children’s health and well-being. There are some reasons why parents might not want their children to be vaccinated. However, parents may have fears that are not based on scientific fact.

Vaccinating our children for sexually transmitted diseases

Last month, an advisory committee of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta recommended that nine- to 12-year-old boys be vaccinated against the human papillomavirus (HPV), a virus transmitted through sexual contact. The goal of the recommendations was to prevent cancers caused by HPV, such as certain cancers of the digestive tract.

The same committee had already recommended, back in March of 2007, that girls and young women between the ages of nine and 26 be vaccinated against HPV, to help prevent various cancers of the reproductive tract, such as cervical cancer.

Raises ethical concerns

While the motivation to prevent cancer and diseases is clearly good, a universal recommendation of this type raises ethical concerns. Because the recommendations of the committee relate to important aspects of human behavior and sexuality at formative ages for children and adolescents, parents need to look at the psychological and social messages they might be conveying by choosing to vaccinate their children against HPV.