Vaccines: Freedom of choice?

As of right now in America, we have a right on whether or not we give ourselves and/or our children vaccines. Vaccines can help prevent many harmful and deadly diseases such as whooping cough, polio, yellow fever, smallpox and much more. The first smallpox vaccine was invented in 1776 by a British Doctor by the name of Edward Jenner. They have saved many lives and prevented debilitating diseases. However, there has been a lot of debate on whether all vaccines are safe or not. Specifically, people are concerned with the MMR vaccine or better know as measles, mumps, and rubella, There seems to be a link between the MMR vaccine and autism. There has been several studies done and some say there is no link and others say there is. As of right now it is inconclusive. Furthermore, in 1986 the supreme court set up a special division to handle vaccine lawsuits. Basically it handled compensation for children injured due to vaccines. The fact that this law is in place acknowledges that  injury and death due to vaccines. There are so many stories of children that were developing normally and thriving but within hours of their vaccines, they regressed and developed life altering defects. Now there is a big push to make vaccines mandatory. Should vaccines  be forced or should the parent have freedom of choice to choose what they think is best for their child. And if these vaccines were forced,would that be taking away from our personal freedoms? Is this a matter of public safety or personal choice. Advocates of making parents vaccinate their children argue that immunizing most children in a community or society protects everyone. Those who argue against forcing parents to have their children vaccinated say it is a basic individual right of a person. The question is what is more important, and if we do decide to inforce vaccines what dangers could these vaccines possibly lead to. The pros for getting vaccines is obvious. Vaccines help prevent a individual from getting an illness. The cons of getting vaccines is a different story. In the article "The pros and cons of Vaccinating children," Kristie Jernigan writes "Some vaccines can cause mild or temporary side effects, which include a fever, soreness or a lump underneath the skin of the vaccination site, says the Family Doctor. Since 1990 there have been 30,000 cases of adverse reactions to vaccines and 13 percent of these side effects have resulted in disability, life threatening illness, hospitalization, or even death."  This is one major reason why I think vaccines should be a choice until that can be a better product on the market that can guarantee the safety of the child receiving the vaccine. Safety from not only the disease the vaccine is intended to protect them from but also safety from serious adverse reaction that alters a child's future. Getting a child vaccinated should not be a game of rush and roulette. Why should a parent be forced to vaccinate their child when there is a known danger? Of course, society's safety is important but how does that trump the individual. Can you imagine taking your happy, full of life child in to be vaccinated and what you got in return was a shell of a human being. That sounds devastating to me and many parents have been subjected to just that. Yes, vaccines should be a choice.