Conscientious Objection to Vaccination: Talking with Your Doctor
by Parents who do not vaccinate to schedule usually require either a medical, religious or “conscientious objector” exemption. This article illustrates the kind of conversation to expect when discussing conscientious objection to vaccination with a general practitioner.
Dr: Yes, ok. There’s not a lot of polio in developed countries. What about Hib?
Parent: A lot of the vaccinations on the current schedule didn’t even exist when I was a child. Somehow I survived.
Dr: Yes. A lot of them are relatively new. But Hib is a serious illness and children can end up with meningitis.
Parent: I’ve looked at the incidence rates in Victoria of all these diseases. Anything is possible, of course, but I know that the diseases my children are most likely to be exposed to are pertussis and measles.
Dr: Measles is a very serious disease.
Parent: I had measles as a child. I’m sure you did too. I had mumps as well. Measles isn’t polio. Some of these diseases are milder as childhood illnesses, and some even have benefits to being caught wild as children. Like chickenpox. Chickenpox isn’t even on the UK schedule.
Dr: Yes, chickenpox usually isn’t a very serious disease.
Parent: Which vaxes do you think are particularly important?
Dr: Hep B is a terrible illness.
Parent: For me, Hep B is the litmus test for how questioning people are about vaccines. Why would you give Hep B to a baby?
Dr: Hep B is very dangerous.
Parent: I’m not a carrier. My children would have to be involved in improbable scenarios to contract Hep B. Risky behaviours that they are highly unlikely to engage in until they are at least teens, if they do at all. What is the benefit of giving Hep B to a child who won’t even come in contact with the disease?
Dr: The three shots at birth will give lifelong immunity.
Parent: Well, if that’s true, so will a vaccine when they are 12. I’ll wait.
Dr: We need to vaccinate babies and young children so that we know we’ve captured everyone in that generation onwards.
Parent: I’d be more comfortable with a vaccination campaign that focused on adults rather than young children whose natural immune systems are still developing.
And so it went. Eventually, she concluded with the same phrase I remember hearing from another doctor the first time I sought a conscientious objection: ‘You’re obviously not going to change your mind. Where do I sign?’
In my opinion, every parent should aim to be well-informed about vaccination. My personal experience of discussing vaccination with general practitioners has left me with the impression that the medical profession tends to be pre-occupied with the complications of vaccine-associated diseases, while being uncritical about the grey areas of vaccination. Should you find yourself requiring a conscientious objection form, expect to have to explain your position, probably to someone who won’t empathise with it!
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