Why do I have the sinking feeling the sudden drive to empty our prisons is soon going to resemble the outcome of deciding to cut parents some slack on getting their kids vaccinated?
I suppose it’s because both campaigns are based on wishful thinking and are designed to fix a situation that isn’t broke. Fortunately America is beginning to start a disease roundup at the cost of only a few cases of measles. I’m not so optimistic about the jail roundup.
The state of Maryland is the latest jurisdiction that has decided having disease-free school children is probably an advantage. As a result thousands of kids may be enjoying home schooling unless their parents get busy and have them vaccinated.
The Baltimore Sun reports city schools may ban up to 3,800 children, while county schools have already “barred hundreds of children from school.” But those figures pale in comparison to the 6,400 kids in Prince George’s County who will find the schoolhouse door closed.
Maryland’s law is better than California’s in some ways and worse than others. As I wrote here recently, California only requires shot records for incoming kindergartners and 7th graders. Evidently children in the gaps are more resistant to disease or, more likely, bureaucrats didn’t want to deal with the paperwork.
In Maryland vaccinations are required for kindergarten, 1st and 2nd grades. And later for 7th through 9th grades. The shots are for chicken pox, tetanus, diphtheria, pertussis and meningitis. Parents have 20 days from the start of school to provide documentation, but that doesn’t appear to be enough time for some parents, hence the ban on their kids.
Where the Maryland law falls short of California law is allowable exemptions. In the past California allowed personal or religious reasons for failure to be vaccinated. Naturally people who had never darkened the door of a church or tossed a log on a fire pit suddenly were overcome with deeply rooted spiritual opposition to vaccinating their kids.
So now personal or religious reasons don’t matter. What matters is the shot. In Maryland, “ . . . parents can opt out of the required immunizations only for medical or religious reasons, and they must obtain documentation to prove their reasoning is legitimate.”
Something tells me in an area where addicts have no problem going to a pill mill to get a prescription for drugs, there will soon be a thriving business in “documentation” for vaccination exemptions.
Even if the kids finally are vaccinated, responsible parents will wind up paying for the lazy and irresponsible. That’s because “Baltimore city schools and numerous other districts have launched free health clinics where parents can bring their children for their government-mandated shots.”
Michael Reagan, the eldest son of President Reagan, is a Newsmax TV analyst. A syndicated columnist and author, he chairs The Reagan Legacy Foundation. Michael is an in-demand speaker with Premiere speaker’s bureau. Read more reports from Michael Reagan — Go Here Now.