Vaccines are a controversial topic. They are used to prevent suffering and death from infectious diseases, like hepatitis b, rotavirus, tetanus, influenza, measles and so on, but people argue about the negative effects of immunization, although it has been demonstrated that the first outweighs the latter.
The only group of people who could refuse to vaccinate their children in Australia were the Christian Scientists. They could claim ‘religious exemption’ for the vaccinations. Christian Scientists strongly believe that illnesses are just an illusion that can be cured by praying.
Starting today, a law will ban religious exemption for vaccines, and Christian Scientists will be legally required to vaccinate their young ones. They have had this right since 1998, but the Australian Minister of Social Services, Scott Morrison, stated that the exemption “is no longer current or necessary, and will therefore be removed”, says the Guardian.
Australia will end welfare payments for families which refuse to vaccinate their children. The only legal way to refuse a vaccination in Australia is based on medical grounds. But, fortunately, most of them are tied to previous vaccinations, so it should be pretty difficult to forge them.
O.C.