It's natural for moms and dads to question any and all medical decisions they make when it involves their children. We parents want to make sure we're doing the very best for our kids, particularly when it comes to their health. Hence, the vaccination debate.
For years now (or ever since Jenny McCarthy spoke out on her belief that there was a connection between vaccinations and autism?), parents have divided themselves into two groups: The group that vaccinates (or delays vaccinations/skips a few vaccinations), and the group who doesn't at all. Soon-to-be-mom-of-two KristenCavallari falls into the latter category. Recently during an interview, Cavallari admit that she never vaccinated her son Camden out of fear that the immunizations will cause autism.
During an appearance on Fox Business show The Independents, Cavallari said, "You know what, I've read too many books about autism. There is a pediatric group called Homestead or, shoot, Homestead or Home First -- now I have pregnancy brain, I got them confused -- but they've never vaccinated any of their children and they've never had one case of autism. And now, one in 88 boys is autistic, which is a really scary statistic."
The reporter responded, "Well, my mom vaccinated us, and she doesn't have any cases of autism either. Isn't that weird?"
"But the vaccinations have changed over the years," Cavallari replied. "There's more mercury and other [stuff]..."
Cavallari, naturally, received critism for her comments, and she's since said, "To each their own. It's our decision and that's the end of the story."
Hmm ... Of course moms and dads have a right to parent the way they feel most comfortable, but is it really "to each their own" when it comes to vaccinations? I don't think anyone wants nearly eradicated diseases to resurface, like measles currently are. I don't anyone wants to live in a society with polio and small pox? It's been proven over and over again that autism is not caused by vaccinations (the Autism Speaks website even states this).
There's something a little uncomfortable about forcing parents to vaccinate their children, though, at some point, it may come to this. Perhaps another option is to better education people on the subject, to show that autism isn't caused by immunizations? Maybe it's naive to think, but it seems like less people would opt out of vaccinations if they knew the facts.
Because, even though I respect Cavallari's "to each their own" attitude, I'm not 100% convinced she's got all of her information straight.
What do you think of Kristin Cavallari's comments? Do you vax your kids?
Image via Kristin Cavallari/Instagram