Should childhood vaccines be required by law?

A couple of years ago there was a poll in Parenting Magazine that asked readers, "Should childhood vaccines be required by law?" About 2000 readers responded and 63% said yes while just 37% said no. There's another poll, much like this one but posted about a year later, at Edutopia and in this poll the no votes are ahead with 53% saying no, 7% saying maybe, and 40% saying yes. This is a heavy debate among parents, health care professionals, and tons of other folks. In fact I'd wager that it's as large a debate as the "should you circumcise your baby boy" debate. The childhood vaccine debate is one of those debates you need to seriously research for yourself before you make a decision. Below are some common arguments I've personally heard for and against vaccines... People in the "YES we should vaccinate all kids" camp, say things like...

• It's the healthiest choice for not only the kids but the adult who live with said kids.
• Parents who don't vaccinate their own children put other parents kids at risk.
• People who don't vaccinate are endangering the lives of their children.
• Vaccines are highly supported by trusted medical sources so they're safe.

People in the "NO vaccines should not be required by law" camp, say things like...

• We don't have enough research gathered yet on what these vaccines may be doing to our kids - i.e. the shots may end up having a negative effect in the long run.
• There are some serious risks of vaccines such as allergic reaction (that can be bad enough to cause a baby's death) and other side effects too.
• We may be breeding super resistant diseases and viruses by vaccinating against them.
• Kids should be allowed to build their immune defenses naturally.
• The government made many of these vaccines and you can't trust them to do what's best for us.

Note, the above is just stuff I've heard from parents. Just because I heard it doesn't make it true or false. There are actual ligament pros and cons for each side which we'll look at in an upcoming post. Also coming up I'll tell you if I'm in the yes or no camp and we'll look at some links to organizations that can help you make a vaccination decision. Plus I'll fill you in on why, even if you're not pro-vaccines, it may be hard to keep your child from getting vaccinated. Right now... tell me if you think vaccines should be required by law or not.