Can the State Force Vaccinations on Your Child?

By Anastacia Mott Austin

Nearly 800 parents from Prince George County in Maryland whose children did not have their latest vaccinations received ominous-looking letters in November with the State Courthouse address stamped on it.

They were "strongly urged" to attend a hearing on November 17th, after which they were informed that if they did not get their children vaccinated on the spot (medical technicians from the state health department were on hand), or prove they already had them, they would face either $50 fines or up to 10 days jail time.

At the beginning of the 2007 school year, almost 3,000 schoolchildren in Prince George County were not up to date with either their vaccinations or their vaccination records. The roundup on November 17th began after the Prince George school board asked county courts to help them make sure the children in their district were current with their immunizations. The court set a date by which parents would need to either vaccinate their children or provide proof they already had. They could also provide proof of or file an exemption, something Maryland law allows for.

The judge who sent the letters, Judge C. Phillip Nichols, said that the request was voluntary, and that the court was not forcing anyone to show up. "We did not order people to do anything. We invited them to the court house to talk about it," said the judge to reporters.

But members of the media and others noted that there were armed police officers with dogs who were patrolling the area, ordering anyone asking questions to stand behind a barrier. In addition, many of the parents attending did not seem to be aware that the court visit was optional.

Said Remy Durham, who is raising seven children, "I’ve got too many children to raise to go to jail."

Echoed Luis Hernandez, who was concerned enough about the wording of the letter to take the day off of work to come to the courthouse, "I was a little afraid to see ‘Court House.’ I thought: ‘Wow, what’s wrong? I didn't do anything.’"

Organizations and individual physicians were present protesting the event, such as Virginia doctor Donna Hurlack, who told the press, "I think it’s offensive that the government would forcibly vaccinate kids. Individual rights are a good thing, and when you're dealing with health issues, informed consent is an important value."

A representative for the school district, John White, said that people were making too big a deal out of the letter and the courthouse vaccinations. "[It’s] not necessarily a bad thing. For two years we've been asking parents to get right with the requirements, and now they are."

But Barbara Loe Fisher, the president of the National Vaccine Information Center (NVIC), was present at the event and concerned about what she saw. Fisher reported that parents who were having their children vaccinated were not being asked about their children’s medical histories, and some kids were being vaccinated even when their parents said they’d already received those particular shots. Some children received up to 17 vaccinations in one day, something even the most mainstream doctor would recommend against.

Said Fisher, "There was a feeling of intimidation. Children were basically put in that building, lined up and given vaccines without any information given to parents about how to monitor their children for adverse vaccination reactions. Vaccines carry risks. Those risks are greater for some than others. At the very least there should have been screening for those children and information given to parents."

In addition, the parents were not being informed of the Maryland state exemption laws, which allow for families to refuse vaccinations on the basis of religious beliefs or medical contraindications.

Whether or not the wording of the letter made it clear that the courthouse vaccinations were optional, the majority of parents interviewed after leaving the building were not aware that this was the case.

The incident left many parents and organizations concerned about civil liberties.

The Association of American Physicians and Surgeons drafted a letter to the governor of Maryland, Martin O’Malley, which was dated November 18th, expressing their concern over the methods used to get parents to comply. The letter read, in part, "The heavy-handed ‘vaccine roundup’ instigated by [state’s attorney] Mr. Ivey obliterates informed consent and parental rights. Vaccines can and do save lives. But this episode has demonstrated that we must take a much more deliberative approach in crafting and enforcing vaccine policy without sacrificing the rights and liberties of individuals and families."

Can the tactics used in Maryland happen in your state?

Probably. According to Fisher, because laws concerning public health are not defined as being under federal jurisdiction by the Constitution, the states have the power to enact laws that make it mandatory for children in the state to be immunized. All states have these laws, and school districts everywhere could potentially call on the court system, as the Prince George school board did, to help them enforce the laws. But all states also have at least one type of exemption option, which the parents in Maryland were not informed of.

It is important to note that the law which was cited in the Prince George case involved truancy charges, not the actual refusal to comply with vaccination laws (which is likely why the judge insisted that the letters were simply "invitations to talk about the issue"). States have the right to refuse admittance to school of any child who is not current on his or her vaccinations. But in doing so, the parents of the child can then run afoul of truancy laws, which is punishable by up to $50 each day the child misses school, or up to 10 days in jail. This is the law the Maryland parents would be guilty of breaking.

Twenty states allow for parents to cite personal, philosophical, religious, or medical reasons and receive exemptions from vaccination. Twenty-eight other states allow for medical or religious reasons for exemptions, and two states, Mississippi and West Virginia, allow only for medical exemptions.

The laws regarding exemptions are easily available, yet many, many parents don’t even know they exist. None of the families who vaccinated their children on the spot at that Maryland courthouse had to do so legally. Yet they felt intimidated and threatened with jail, and thought they had no choice.

It is a parent’s responsibility to be aware of what is entering the bodies of their children, and to be informed of what their rights are. People who are ignorant of their rights are at risk of losing them. Nowhere in America is it legal to force a citizen (or a citizen’s child) to undergo a medical procedure or face jail.

At least not yet.

*For more information about what parents’ rights are in your state, or to find out more about the laws concerning exemptions for vaccinations, visit the National Vaccine Information Center at http://www.nvic.org.