RACINE, Wis. — The measles outbreak in the U.S. is now the worst in more than two decades. There are confirmed cases in 22 states according to the Centers for Disease Control and most are in unvaccinated children.
So far there have not been any cases reported in Wisconsin. Now, state lawmakers are putting forth a bill that would end personal conviction waivers that lets children entering school skip out on immunizations.
A Janesville mom, who is against vaccinations, said the bill goes too far.
"I think medical care should be between you and your physician," Tami Goldstein said. "I don't think politics has any role in it. We have no health crisis. Measles is not a health crisis."
She is part of a group that wants vaccine-choice in Wisconsin. Goldstein stopped vaccinating her child.
"She had an MMR, a polio, a DTap, a Hepitatis B and those were the last vaccines she ever received," Goldstein said.
Dr. Margaret Hennessy, the head of pediatrics for Ascension All Saints in Racine, said she is also a mom and vaccinates her child, to protect him and others.
"Let's just say I am at a school with low vaccine rates. But I have done everything I can in my power to protect my son. But you have also made a decision for my son. You have also decided that you are going to take a chance that you are going to make my son sick," Hennessy said.
That's why groups like the Wisconsin chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Wisconsin Medical Society are asking for the end of the personal choice waivers.
"I think families are bombarded with so much information and they are trying so hard they are doing the right thing by their child," Hennessy said. "They are not seeing the other side of it. We are not seeing kids in iron lungs with polio. We just don't. So it's hard to convince them this is the right thing to do."
If the state does get rid of personal exemption waivers, Wisconsin would still allow people to skip vaccinations for religion reasons or medication exceptions.
