The one where I get all preachy about kids and shots

Recently, a friend of mine posted an article about the outbreaks of measles in California and how it could all be prevented by simply vaccinating your child.  She’s a nurse, so she is definitely pro-vaccination.  As am I.  I have tried to see the logic and reasoning behind the anti-vaccination groups, and I just can’t wrap my head around it.

And … seeing as how I am one of those pesky liberals, I am also pro-choice.  Meaning, it doesn’t matter what my personal feelings and opinions and beliefs are about abortion and birth control and all that stuff.  It should be up to each individual woman, at each individual point in her life, to determine what is best for her at that moment.  I don’t know her, her life, her problems.  Therefore, it’s not my place to tell her what she should and should not be able to do when it comes to her body.

And so, here we are.  With this vaccine post.  Someone commented that she wished that they had an “ethical” vaccine for MMR.  That if they did, she would use it.  But since a portion of that vaccine was developed using embryonic cells from aborted babies, she would not use it. 

Let me tell ya … that has been sitting in my brain for days now, just tumbling around.  I have thought about it.  A lot.  And my brain says … That is just about the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard.  Seriously.

Don’t get me wrong.  I get that she is pro-life.  And that is totally okay.  That’s her belief, her choice.  What bothers me is that she is so all consumed by this stance that she can’t see beyond it.

First, all that I have been able to find about it says that the pregnancy was willingly terminated.  Meaning that the mother chose to abort.  Ok.  Now, some may think that is wrong, that she is a murderer, whatever.  But this was in the early 1960s.  Things were a lot different then.  We don’t know the story.  Maybe the baby had some sort of severe deformity or illness that would have led to its death shortly after birth.  Maybe the mother felt that it would be easier to end the pregnancy early than to carry to term, deliver, and then have the baby die in her arms.  Maybe she was just a flaky hippie chick who didn’t want a kid.  Who knows.  And that’s the point.  You can’t know, and maybe there was a valid medical reason to terminate.  Things were a lot different then, medical advances weren’t what they are today. 

Also, those same cells have been used, reproduced and regenerated in the lab, all of this time.  The same cells.  Aborted babies aren’t being taken every week to make a new batch of vaccine.  The very same cells from the early 1960’s are still used today. 

Now, assuming that you still feel that aborting, under ANY circumstance, is wrong, a sin, whatever … that leads us to this point.  Any bodily fluid or substance is considered a bio hazard.  Blood, urine, skin, fetus.  All of it.  So, after a surgery, or a birth, or an abortion, all that material is put into a bio hazard bag.  It is taken to a bio hazard disposal, and it is destroyed. 

Back when I was a candy striper, the hospital had an incinerator onsite, and they burned it all there, every day.  Some places probably send it to a landfill.  It happens.  Either way, this material is trash.  Burned or buried.  So, regardless of how you feel about the process, the fact is, the fetus is trash, and it is destroyed.

But … instead of destroying this one, this time, doctors used that fetus.  They took cells and they used those cells to create a vaccine.  They took a decision that is tragic and painful and devastating, and they turned it into something positive that has helped millions of people in the past 50 years.  So … ethical vaccine.  Really?

If you can’t see beyond your personal belief about abortion being wrong to the fact that something very good and very beneficial to the world came from that decision, then – to me – that’s narrow minded.

There was some comment about how God should never allow blah blah blah.  Well, fine.  But guess what?  Shitty, terrible stuff happens every day.  Kids starve to death.  Kids are killed by their parents.  Kids are shot in the street.  Kids are beaten.  IT HAPPENS.

It shouldn’t.  But it does.  And God doesn’t stop it.  For whatever reason.  Good exists, but so does evil.  It’s a balance.  Some people believe in total free will – we choose and create our own paths.  Some believe that the basic path is already mapped out, and our choices … a or b … along the way determine where we end up.  And some believe that everything, every single act and decision, is already predetermined before we are born.  That we are just living the life that has already been foreseen and set in motion.  We think we have choice, but we are really just acting out the play in the Grand Plan that has already been created.

Regardless of which is true, the fact is, bad things happen.  Every day.  Sometimes to really good people.  Sometimes to kids.  You can hate it.  You can protest it.  You can condemn it.  But it happens.

The fact is, this one time, some doctor took a terrible thing and turned it into a positive.  This child that was never born, never grew up, never got to get married, never got to have a job, never got to be a member of society … that child made the most significant contribution to society that it could possibly make.  The very cells of that child created something that has saved the lives of millions of other children.  I would say that is probably a far greater contribution than the child would have ever made had it lived.  That is pretty amazing.

Maybe, if people could see beyond their own prejudices, their own preconceptions, their own blind devotions, they might see things in a new light.

There are millions of animals that have been harmed testing medicines and cosmetics for human consumption.  That’s not ethical, but I bet you are wearing/eating/taking them without even thinking about that.  There are millions of tiny children around the world that work in horrible and dangerous conditions to make the clothing and toys in your home.  That’s not ethical either, but I bet you don’t think twice about that.

You don’t want to vaccinate your kid.  Fine, your choice.  But doing it because the vaccine isn’t “ethical”.  That’s wrapping your belief in a pretty little bow to make you feel self-righteous and smug and better about your decision.  It has nothing to do with the truth.  It has nothing to do with the health and well-being of your child. 

It’s okay to stand up for what you believe it.  It’s okay to voice your opinions.  And it’s okay to disagree with the opinion of others.  But always, ALWAYS, keep an open mind.  Be willing to see the forest beyond the trees.  Be willing to consider the big picture, to go outside of your comfort zone.  Be willing to consider other options, to weigh pros and cons.  Don’t just make sweeping judgments based on your moral convictions.  They aren’t always correct.  Or in your best interests.

Thoughts?