Mandatory Vaccines Debate Gets Injection of New Research from ProCon.org

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Feb 10, 2015, 07:40 ET

SANTA MONICA, Calif., Feb. 10, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- ProCon.org (online at www.procon.org) has expanded and updated its website exploring pro, con, and related information from authoritative sources in the debate over "Should any vaccines be required for children?"

The nonpartisan vaccines website, originally launched in 2010, has been viewed more than 177,000 times in the past 45 days alone. All of the vaccines research, including pro and con quotes from people on both sides of the mandatory vaccination debate, is available free of charge at http://vaccines.procon.org http://alternativeenergy.procon.org/view.answers.php?questionID=001628.

No US federal laws mandate vaccination, but all 50 states require certain childhood vaccinations for children entering public schools. However, most states offer medical and religious exemptions, and 19 states provide philosophical exemptions, raising the issue of whether laws should be changed to make certain vaccines mandatory for all children.

Kamy Akhavan, President of ProCon.org, stated:

"The recent measles outbreak originating at Disneyland has sparked a nationwide discussion about vaccines, their safety, their importance, and whether or not they should be mandatory. Our recently updated website gives parents, students, educators, and the rest of us, critical information about vaccines. We've done all the research and presented it in simple pro and con columns. Readers can quickly understand both sides in the debate and come to their own informed conclusions."

Pro sources include: Dr. Paul Offit, Chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia; Dr. Robert Pearl, Executive Director and CEO of the Permanente Medical Group; Dr. Ben Carson, Professor Emeritus of Neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins University; U.S. Senators Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Dianne Feinstein (D-CA); and several others.

Con sources include: U.S. Senator Dr. Rand Paul (R-KY); Dr. Bob Sears, pediatrician; Dr. David Elliman, immunization expert for the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child's Health; Helen Bedford, senior lecturer in children's health at University College London Institute of Child Health; and the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS), and several others.

The pro and con quotes are accessible at:
http://vaccines.procon.org/view.answers.php?questionID=001606

In addition to the expert statements, the updated ProCon.org resource contains:

State Vaccination Exemptions for Children Entering Public Schools – Simple chart of religious, medical, and philosophical exemptions for vaccinations by state.
State-by-State: Vaccinations Required for Public School Kindergarten – Connecticut is the only state to require 10 vaccinations, while Montana has the fewest requirements at three.
Vaccine Histories and Impact on 10 Diseases: Vaccine Development, Cases of and Deaths from Diseases, and Vaccination Rates – See how deaths from measles, chickenpox, influenza, and other diseases were impacted when the vaccines became available.

About ProCon.org

ProCon.org (www.procon.org) is a nonpartisan 501(c)(3) nonprofit public charity, founded in 2004, whose mission is to encourage critical thinking, respectful debate, and informed citizenship. ProCon.org has more than 20,000,000 annual readers. Information is presented on 52 different ProCon.org issue websites in subjects ranging from alternative energy, gay marriage, and medical marijuana to the death penalty, immigration, and physician-assisted suicide.

ProCon.org is free of charge, requires no registration, and has been used by educators in more than 5,700 schools in all 50 states and 73 foreign countries.

ProCon.org has also been referenced by mainstream media more than 470 times in 2014, including: The New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Associated Press, CNN, Fox News, MSNBC, Huffington Post, Los Angeles Times, Boston Globe, ABC, NBC, CBS, PBS, BBC, Slate, Daily Beast, Forbes, The Atlantic, and USAToday.