Thinking twice when it comes to shots

When I first had my son, I really worried about vaccinations. So I did a lot of research, and guess what? I didn’t vaccinate him. And you know what else? I’m not going to. I believe vaccinations are unsafe and that we are being fed a load of bull about the efficacy of vaccinations.

There. I said it. Call me a bad mother, throw the “science” at me, the “facts,” the “you’re-lowering-the-herd-immunity-response-because-of-your-hippie-viewpoint” speech-do whatever it is you need to do to justify your stance on the vaccination question. I’ve heard it all before. Despite all the information supporting either side of this debate we often only hear one side. We're fed the headlines proclaiming that the “mercury-autism link has been disproven” and continue injecting our children with heavy metals and neurotoxins. We trust that those who create, test and research vaccines have our children's best interest at heart and aren’t driven by profit. We believe we’re doing the right thing and tell ourselves, “If I can’t trust my doctor, who can I trust?” I say, trust yourself, find out for yourself and keep asking questions.

Now, hear me out. There are data showing a link between mercury in vaccinations and autism. There is evidence pointing to corruption in the higher echelons of Big Pharm and the U.S. government, and to skewed research methods and bias. For me, it’s not a question of who’s right or wrong or even blind faith. It’s a question of “what if?” What if immunizing Henry causes more damage than a possible exposure to measles, mumps or rubella? What if I let them inject my son with 32 doses (Yup. In the U.S, according to the recommended vaccine schedule, a child will receive 32 doses of vaccine before the age of 2) of dead or attenuated viruses, derived from embryonic chickens and preserved with 250 times the safe amount of heavy metals, including aluminum and formaldehyde, and he happens to be one of the few who has a reaction? What if he’s that one out of 166 who develops an auto-immune disorder that’s being attributed to vaccines?

Then again, maybe I should trust what I hear and vaccinate my baby. I mean, the medical world has never been wrong before, right?

Kristen Billings