The proposed Senate Bill 830 would remove personal or religious exemptions from Oklahoma law requiring those attending public or private school to receive childhood vaccines.
“I think it’s a pretty good idea to vaccinate children for diseases that can be prevented, that can cause serious long-term health problems and in some cases death,” Assistant Professor of Nursing Becky O’Neal said.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention allows vaccination laws to be determined by state and local governments.
“To get into school you’re required to have certain vaccinations, and I believe that’s a good thing just to prevent the spread of disease,” sophomore nursing major Megan Lively said. “But I don’t believe it should be mandated by the government, it should be a parent’s choice.”
Currently, exemptions based on religious or personal beliefs against immunization are viable options for parents.
“I think it’s the parents’ job to make those decisions, not the government’s job to tell me how to raise my children,” O’Neal said.
Junior nursing major Jessa Ray said it is a risk to allow unvaccinated children to attend public school because if one kid who did not get vaccinated becomes sick, diseases are capable of mutating and then even the children who were vaccinated become sick.
“If they all vaccinate, then none of them get sick,” Ray said.
O’Neal said the proposed bill violates the First Amendment.
“I don’t think we should impose on their religious freedom by making them vaccinate their children if they don’t want to,” O’Neal said.
Senior Marina Pendelton said she does not receive vaccinations for religious reasons.
“If a person decides against relying on medical methods — that decision should be honored by schools,” Pendelton said. “For parents who maintain the health and safety of their families through prayer — these mandates are intrusive and violate their ability to freely practice religion.”
Pendleton said families who do not wish to vaccinate should research their options.
“I hope families who are unsure about the best approach to maintaining the health and safety of their children will take responsibility to research the available methods and choose one to pursue, rather than making little or no efforts either medically or spiritually and simply hoping for the best,” Pendleton said.
Ray said government should ensure national safety by requiring vaccinations regardless of personal or religious beliefs.
“The government’s job is to make sure that the people and the populous is healthy and functioning at an OK rate,” Ray said. “Whenever we give exceptions like that then that causes problems in the end.”
The proposed bill does not remove medical exemptions for vaccinations, which include the compromise of the child’s immune status by a permanent or temporary condition, a serious allergic reaction to a vaccine component or a prior serious negative effect related to vaccination.
In some cases, however, a medical exemption is not given despite a vaccine being predicted as a high risk, according to O’Neal.
“They may know other people in their family who have had issues with vaccines, and they may not qualify for a medical exemption because the child hasn’t been tested for a specific genetic mutation, and they may not have the money to do that testing — genetic testing is expensive,” O’Neal said.
Vaccinations reduce probability of epidemics, despite occasional cases of serious side-effects or allergic reactions.
“Evidence-based practice shows that immunizations are the best thing to do for all populations,” Assistant Professor of Nursing Shawna Hood said.
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