Wednesday, October 17

Speaking of biological warfare....


The Hot Invite: Pock Parties

Apparently, the state of Pennsylvania has mandated the chickenpox vaccine - ridiculous. I feel much more comfortable about having my kids get chicken pox naturally then subjecting their little bodies to yet another vaccine. In fact, by the time Katie got it when she was two, I didn't even take her to the doctor. I knew what it was, there was nothing the doctor could do other than to tell me what I already knew.

Some parents in Pennsylvania feel the same way, so they've started having "pock parties" in which kids with chickenpox in the infectious stage play with other kids and give them chickenpox on purpose, therefore making the vaccine unecessary. Kind of weird, but makes a bizarre kind of sense.

The disturbing part of the story, though (unless you find the idea of the parties disturbing, too, which I really don't) is that the chickenpox vaccine is derived from the remains of unborn children aborted during the 1960s' (I refuse to use the term "fetus". It used to simply mean what it is - Latin for "unborn child." In its present usage, it means something else - non-human worthy of life only if the powerful people say it's okay. .)

Anyway, the origins of the vaccine bother me a great deal, and I had no idea. I also don't really see how, as the church officials at the end state, it's morally acceptable to use them, given the origins. Maybe someone smart can explain?