What about society's moral duty?

Q: Polls show a majority of Americans are concerned about the H1N1 virus (swine flu), but also about the safety and efficacy of the swine flu vaccine. Is it ethical to say no to this or any vaccine? Are there valid religious reasons to accept or decline a vaccine? Will you get a swine flu shot? Will your children?

My father was a physician who worked for universal childhood vaccination, and my employer, the Seventh-day Adventist Church, runs an extensive childhood vaccination program around the globe.

If there is one thing I've learned, it is never to assume a full knowledge of the range of deeply held religious beliefs that are prevalent in our world. Growing up on the diverse island of Penang in Malaysia, I witnessed as a child a rich diversity of religious practices. As I've worked in the field of religious freedom for most of the last decade, however, I've come to realize that my childhood was only a primer for enormous variance in the range of religious beliefs and practices.

For this reason, I do not dismiss the idea that someone may have a sincere, deeply held religious objection to vaccinations. Indeed, it would surprise me if there was no one who objected on religious grounds. The question isn't whether such a sincere, genuine religious belief exists, therefore, but rather what society as a whole should do when someone sincerely and deeply holds a view that may endanger children or others.

In the case of diseases that result in high rates of death or permanent disability, society has a moral obligation to act to protect the child, even if by so doing the religious beliefs of the parents are violated. But this cannot be done lightly and the intervention must be done in as limited a manner as possible to achieve disease prevention. In the case of some vaccines, however, the balance must go to the parent's beliefs. For example, although tens of thousands of American die from the seasonal flu every year, there is no general mandate that everyone receive the seasonal flu vaccine. Why would society force religious objectors to take a vaccine many Americans fail to take for a variety of other reasons?

So how should society decide when parents with sincerely held religious beliefs proscribing vaccination must comply with a general requirement to vaccinate their children against a particular disease? Maybe the question is best answered by the rate of death and disability associated with the underlying disease, the rate and seriousness of the complications from the vaccine, and the risk to third parties should a child become infected. A careful balancing of circumstances and rights does not provide easy answers, but simplistic answers are seldom the best answers to complex questions.

By James Standish  |  October 15, 2009; 4:08 PM ET Save & Share:                 
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