DENVER Vaccine skeptics in the United States are finding unexpected allies in conservative Republicans in their effort to fight laws that will force more parents to inoculate their children.
Though the stereotype of an American vaccine skeptic is a coastal, back-to-the-land type, it has generally been Democratic-controlled states that have tightened vaccination laws. This week, Democrats in two of those states California, where a measles outbreak was traced to Disneyland, and Washington state proposed eliminating laws that allow parents to opt out of vaccination for personal reasons.
Meanwhile, in Maine, Republicans are objecting to a similar effort. In Minnesota, only Democrats have signed on to sponsor a bill to make it harder to avoid vaccinating children. And last year in Colorado, it was largely Republicans who squashed an effort to force parents to get a physicians approval if they chose not to inoculate their kids.
This boils down to, does the government force everyone to conform or do we empower everyone to make decisions on their own? said Colorado state Sen. Kevin Lundberg, a Republican who did not fully have his children vaccinated and led the fight against last years bill.
This year, Colorado Republicans introduced a bill stating that parents have the right to make all medical decisions for their children, legislation that was cheered by vaccination opponents Thursday at a hearing.
Vaccination politics erupted into the national spotlight this week when three Republican presidential contenders New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul and former Hewlett-Packer CEO Carly Fiorina seemed to side with parents who oppose vaccinating their children.
Several other prominent Republicans including House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner spoke out in support of vaccinations, and conservatives noted that Hillary Rodham Clinton told an anti-vaccine group in 2008 that she wanted more research into the discredited theory that inoculations cause autism.
Concerns about measles in the U.S. are growing as five infants who attend a suburban Chicago day care center have now been diagnosed with the disease, health officials said Thursday.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says there have been at least 102 confirmed measles cases in 14 states in 2015, not including the latest cases in Illinois. Of those 102, 94 were related to the recent outbreak at Disneyland.
American skepticism toward vaccinations dates back at least to the Revolutionary War, when George Washington was initially reluctant to inoculate his troops against smallpox.
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Vaccine skeptics discover allies among conservative Republicans