Teens should be able to get vaccines without consent from parents, say NY lawmakers

A bill in New York would let older kids get vaccinations against their parents' wishes.

Ethan Lindenberger (R), student at Norwalk High School in Norwalk, Ohio before the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, on March 5, 2019. (Photo credit: JIM WATSON/AFP/Getty Images)
  • Teens 14 and older should be able to get vaccinated on their own, says a new bill in New York.
  • Lawmakers were inspired by Ethan Lindenberger, an Ohio teen who fought to take vaccines against his mom's wishes.
  • Anti-vaccination attitudes have been blamed for recent measles outbreaks.
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Amazon won’t sell porn, but will sell anti-vaxxer books

As Facebook and YouTube move to moderate anti-vaccination content, Amazon has given no indication that it plans to do the same.

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  • Tech companies like Facebook, Pinterest and YouTube have all recently moved to ban, demonetize or otherwise moderate content related to anti-vaccination causes.
  • Amazon, which currently sells documentaries, books and merchandise created by anti-vaxxers, has offered no plans to do the same.
  • How much responsibility private companies should take when it comes to keeping potentially dangerous information from the public remains an open question.
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What if you were immune to chronic pain? Vaccines could make it happen.

Scientists are developing vaccines for migraines and sciatica (back pain) – a win in the war against the overprescription of opioid drugs.

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  • Alzheimer's disease and unintentional deaths (like opioid overdoses and suicides) have been driving down U.S. longevity statistics for three consecutive years – a trend not seen since the Spanish flu pandemic.
  • Our current approach to treating chronic pain is drug-based, but a vaccine-based approach can cut addiction out of the equation.
  • You can vaccinate against pain! Scientists are developing vaccines for migraines and sciatica, which will lower the need for opioids, be cheaper, and make drug non-compliance a non-issue.
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2019 already boasts more measles cases than all of 2010

The spike in measles cases stems from three outbreaks in Washington and New York.

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  • The Center for Disease Control and Prevention has recorded 79 measles cases in 2019.
  • Three outbreaks are responsible for the high number of cases, particularly an outbreak in Washington State that's affected at least 50 people so far.
  • The measles vaccine is effective, though vaccine hesitancy and the virus' extremely contagious nature put some communities at risk.
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‘Tragic and preventable’: Measles outbreak spreads across anti-vaccine ‘hotspot’ in Washington

Officials have reported 25 confirmed cases so far.

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  • The outbreak occurred in an area described by one doctor as a 'hotspot' for outbreaks due to its extraordinarily high number of unvaccinated children.
  • The parents of children in Washington, Oregon and 16 other states are allowed to apply for personal or philosophical exemptions from the vaccines required to get into public school.
  • The World Health Organization calls the propensity not to get vaccinated "vaccine hesitancy," and the organization said one of its goals over the next 5 years is to decrease this hesitancy.
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