AC Capehart/My tax dollars welcome my baby (and remind me to get her innoculated)

Created Sun, 29 Jan 2006 00:01:29 +0000 Modified Thu, 14 Oct 2021 14:31:47 +0000
338 Words

Yesterday, Sam got another birth card. This one (ostensibly) came from Governor Ed Rendell, and his wife, Midge. The front looks like a normal congratulatory card. The cover says “Welcome Little One” and on the inside, “The world is one baby sweeter now.” And then comes the “personal” message from Midge & Ed. In handwriting-font, it says “As parents, we know how precious your baby is to you. Keeping your little one healthy means starting immunizations by two months of age. Congratulations, and remember to get those shots!” There’s an attached immunization record and growth chart. Ooh, and it gets better. On the back, “Hallmark is committed to encouraging childhood immunizations. We donated this card to your state as part of a ten-year national effort to help protect the health of our youngest citizens…”

My libertarian (crackpot?) training has me ask 2 questions immediately — ones for which I do not have the immediate answers: Qui Bono? Or, more specifically, how do the state (and Hallmark) benefit from my having my child vaccinated?. And, like this post quotes Block as saying “… the fact that if everyone is against [or in this case, for] something … one can assume that there is something which can be said in its favor [or, in this case against it].” What is it that can be said against immunization? — The things I’ve found online in my cursory search don’t feel like they have a great deal of credibility. I just find it curious that most pro-vaccine information comes from the government. Do Ed and Midge Rendell love me more than I think?