Often time’s while reflecting on society, as an individual or as a whole, we’re left to question what constitutes a just society, and what values do we as individual’s take on to contribute to society. Do we have any obligations, what are our civic duties? Is it okay to put ourselves before the utility of society as a whole? If we do put ourselves before the utility of society, do the means have to justify the ends, and if not, is that ethically justified? Under which circumstances do we allow this to happen, and what does it mean to do the right thing?
There are many theories as to what constitutes a just society, from the viewpoints of Immanuel Kant, to John Rawls, to Jeremy Bentham and John Mills, it’s clear that as a society we’re constantly evolving as a society and what we need or want from it. However, it’s fair to say that we have baselines. If we take a closer look at Jeremy Bentham and John Mill’s, creators of Utilitarianism, we conclude that as a society we value the utility of society as a whole. Often times this means putting our needs and wants aside as to increase overall happiness by abiding to the laws and social constructs we create. However, Milton Friedman, founder of libertarianism, believed that utilitarianism infringed on one of our most basic human rights, freedom.
As autonomous human beings, we have the freedom to choose what we do with ourselves, as well as our belongings, and our children. We have freedom of speech, freedom to practice any religion we choose to follow, the freedom to choose our path of education, but yet the state and federal government often times mandates vaccinations. According to Friedman, this is not just.
The overall purpose of vaccinations is to create an immunity towards disease with little to no side effects, yet more and more people are refusing to vaccinate their children and themselves. Since the first vaccination was created in the 1800’s there have always been people oppose to them, and their momentum has slowly been growing ever since. Due to the nature of vaccines, which are comprised of viruses and preservatives, many people are hesitant about putting them inside themselves and their children.
The primary preservative found in vaccines is thimerosal. According to the World Health Organization, “thiomersal is a compound containing ethyl mercury used to prevent bacterial and fungal growth in inactivated (in which the virus has been killed) vaccines presented in multi-dose vials. It is also used during vaccine production, both to inactivate certain organisms and toxins and to help maintain a sterile production line.” There have been many claims that thimerosal causes Autism Spectrum Disorder, as thimerosal is a mercury compound. Mercury has been linked to many neurological disorders with increased exposure, it’s no wonder so many parents are refusing to vaccinate their children, it’s a very scary concept to potentially put your child at risk.
Of the many vaccinations given to children to help them build up an immunity to deadly diseases, two of the most controversial vaccines are DTaP and MMR. DTaP, which vaccinates against diphtheria, pertussis (whooping cough), and tetanus. During the 1970’s there was an international panic regarding this vaccine. In England, a children’s hospital claimed that there were 36 children that developed neurological conditions following their DTaP vaccine. This led to a decrease in vaccinations. (College of Physicians of Philadelphia) The MMR vaccine protects against measles, mumps, and rubella (German measles). In 1998, Andrew Wakefield, a former British doctor, comprised a research paper linking the MMR vaccine with bowel disease and autism. This research paper led to another international panic and fear of the vaccine, even though the research paper was later proven to be fraudulent, there’s still a lot of stigma surrounding the MMR vaccine. (College of Physicians of Philadelphia)
With all of the fear and continual movements against vaccinations, it’s quite easy to justify one’s conscientious objections to them. Aside from the fear of side effects from vaccinations, people also refuse to vaccinate due to “religious, moral, or philosophical convictions.” (Buehning L, & Peddecord, K. M.) When put into perspective though, we as members of a society have an ethical duty to receive vaccinations to maximize overall utility in our society. Many scholars have also described vaccinations as one of the top ten achievements of public health in the 20th century. (College of Physicians of Philadelphia) Vaccinations are incredible tools of medicine that help promote overall wellness in individuals as well as the community by creating immunities to various diseases and viruses.
When pondering what our civic duties are to ourselves and to the majority in society regarding maximizing society, one of the first things we acknowledge is safety. Many American’s contribute to the safety of society by joining the military or working as military contractors. They’re filling their civic duty to protecting the country from foreign threats. We can look at vaccinations in similar regards, protecting ourselves and others from foreign invaders. While comparing vaccinations to the military in terms of our civic duty to maximizing utility, we can conclude that vaccinations are something we should look at more closely. (Clarke, S., Giubilini, A., & Walker, J. M.)
As mentioned previously, there is a lot of controversy surrounding the TDaP vaccine, as many believe it causes autism in children. Between January 1st 2011 and December 21st 2014, the Kaiser Perminate South Californian hospitals followed over 10,000 women through their first pregnancy and they received prenatal TDaP vaccines. Only 1.6% (1341) of the children were diagnosed with autism. The study concludes that prenatal DTaP vaccines are not associated with an increased rate of autism. (Becerra-Culgui, A. T., Getahun, D., Chiu, V., Sy, S. L., & Hung, T. F.) When reflecting on the results of this study, we can logically conclude that DTaP vaccines do not cause autism, and that autism is more likely than not a genetic mutation. Furthermore, when DTaP vaccinations declined in the 1970’s there were three pertussis (whooping cough) outbreaks which confirmed the validity of the DTaP vaccine. (College of Physicians of Philadelphia) Since we know that the DTaP vaccine works, and that it does not cause autism, we can conclude that receiving this vaccine will maximize utility for the individual, as well as the rest of society since some people are not able to get vaccinated due to suppressed immune systems.
In 1998 the MMR vaccine prompted another large wave of fear regarding vaccines being linked to autism due to Andrew Wakefield’s fraudulent research paper linking the MMR vaccine to bowel disease and autism. After an investigation in 2010, it was determined that a law firm had paid the now renounced British doctor to write and publish a false research paper. Wakefield was to receive a large payout from publishing this paper in order for one of their lawsuits to win. Many studies have been conducted since and none of them have been able to link MMR to autism. (College of Physicians of Philadelphia)
Thimerosal, the center of the autism/vaccine controversy, is a compound of mercury, is a preservative used in vaccines. Studies conducted in 2001 concluded that there is not enough evidence to prove or disprove thimerosal causes autism. However, due to the uproar of the potential side effects of putting mercury within one’s body, vaccine manufacturers decided to remove or completely eliminate thimerosal as a precautionary measure. Currently, thimerosal is no longer used in child vaccines, aside from select multidose flu vaccines. (College of Physicians of Philadelphia) Additionally, scientific research conducted by the Center of Disease Control has found even with the elimination of thimerosal from childhood vaccinations, children being diagnosed with autism are still continually increasing. (Center of Disease Control)
Since vaccinations were invented there have always been those against the use of them for reasons varying from components that comprise vaccines, to the fear of side effects, which have been propelled further by bunk research papers. When we take into account our reasons for conscientious objection of vaccines, so long as they are not religious, and we reflect on our civic duty to maximize utility within society, we can conclude that the benefits of vaccinations outweigh the risk.