Yahoo News A Mom Is Facing Jail Time for Refusing to Vaccinate Her Son
When it comes to getting her son up-to-date on vaccinations, Michigan mother Rebecca Bredow says she would "rather go to jail" because of her "personal choice" to stand up for what she believes.
By law, parents are allowed to delay or skip a vaccine due to "religious personal and medical exemptions," in the state of Michigan and 16 others across the U.S., Joel Dorfman of Michigan Vaccine Choice told CBS News.
But Bredow, who has primary custody of her 9-year-old, has been given less than one week to take her son to receive all of his vaccinations after she and her ex-husband, Jason Horne, had agreed to space them out, ABC News reports.
Now, Bredow claims the Oakland County courts want her to bring her son "up to the fullest extent medically allowed" which comes out to eight vaccines "in one dose" all before 9 a.m. on Wednesday.
"It wasn't until they started grouping them together that I backed off of doing vaccines," she told 7 Action News. "...God forbid if he were to be injured by a vaccine, I would have to take care of him."
"Vaccines are safe. Vaccines are effective. Vaccines save lives," The American Academy of Pediatrics told ABC News in a statement.
Similarly, the CDC assures that giving a child several shots at the same time "does not cause any chronic health problems," and every new vaccine is licensed and "tested along with the vaccines already recommended for a particular aged child." There are, however, some risks such as fever and seizures.
Getting multiple vaccinations "can be less traumatic for the child," they claim, and can offer other benefits such as fewer office visits, saving "parents time and money." Ultimately, it's recommended to get them on time.
However, a lawyer for Bredow's ex-husband, Benton G. Richardson, told ABC News that the case "is not truly about vaccinations" because Bredow and Horne have been in an ongoing legal battle.
According to the lawyer, Bredow had been ordered by a court to vaccinate her son in November 2016 and hadn't complied. The case, Richardson stated, is instead about Bredow "refusing to comport with any number of the court's orders and actively seeking to frustrate Mr. Horne's joint legal custody rights."
Regardless, only time will tell - and come Wednesday, Bredow's fate could be up to the courts.
[h/t ABC News]
You Might Also Like
