Parents no longer needed

An incredible story in the The Washington Post reports that the parents of around 2,300 Maryland suburban students who failed to get needed vaccinations may now face a $50 a day fine and up to 10 days in jail if their children fails to meet the state’s immunization requirements.

The threat of legal action is a last resort after months in which Prince George’s has struggled to get its 131,000 students immunized for chicken pox and hepatitis B, as mandated by the state. More than 2,300 students have not been immunized and have been barred from attending schools, almost two months after a Sept. 20 deadline for meeting the requirement.

“We can do this the easy way or the hard way, but it’s got to get done,” Prince George’s State’s Attorney Glenn F. Ivey (D) said at a news conference in Upper Marlboro. “I’m willing to move forward with legal action.”

What a tyrannical pipsqueak.

My wife and I would not allow our doctor to stick a needle into our two little girls with hepatitis B vaccine, not because we’re anti-vaccine, but because we deemed this vaccine unnecessary at such a young age. But even if Prince George parents are wrong about the shots effectiveness and worth, are we know a country where an attorney general coerce parents to inject pharmaceuticals into their children? If parents fail to walk lockstep will they now regularly be threatened with prison?

And yes, I realize there are negligent parents out there. I can assure you no law or threat of jail time will make them better parents. There are, however, hundreds of thousands of parents who have health concerns about hepatitis B — and other vaccinations.

Here are three actions parents take that are indisputably more harmful to a larger group of American children than skipping your hepatitis B vaccine in elementary school:

1. Feeding kids soda and junk food every day.
2. Allowing kids to watch 5 hours of TV every day.
3. Allowing kids to play five hours of video games every day.

Are AGs prepared to threaten these parents with jail terms, as well?