Many people are starting to call for laws that mandate vaccination of children. The passage of such laws will effectively remove parental choice related to vaccinations. Others are claiming that parents are in the best position to make choices regarding their children, and argue that parents should retain choice and discretion in this area. Lawmakers are starting to dance around the topic, maintaining a noncommittal stance (and likely hoping that this whole thing will just go away). There are certainly other stakeholders in this occurrence (namely, drug manufacturers) but during this current news cycle, they haven’t said a word. It should be pointed out that, in general, vaccines tend to be narrowly profitable for manufacturers and the trend has been to move away from vaccine related business article - health affairs (links to an external site.).

What is your position on this topic?

Do you believe that vaccines should be mandated by the government?

If so, what are the ethical arguments to support that position?

Do you believe that parents should retain choice and that the government should stay out of family medical decisions?

If so, what are the ethical arguments supporting that position?

For each position, also discuss the potential costs and impacts. This topic explores the interplay between society, health, politics, and business. The goal is to explore how ethics can be complex and meaningful in our modern society.