Candidate is wrong about vaccine choice

In U.S. House candidate Ashley Hinson's first ad, she claims 'as a mom, I'm driven to secure a bright future for my kids and yours.”

This February, Hinson was asked whether parents should be allowed to refuse vaccination. Her colleagues in the Iowa Senate had proposed legislation making it easier to opt out.

Hinson did what she always does, make people feel better. She said she vaccinates her sons, and believes vaccines work.

But her children aren't my concern. I care more about those last two words from her ad: 'and yours.” What is she doing for everyone else's kids?

She knows vaccines keep other kids healthy. She must oppose this bill that would create unnecessary health risks for your kids, right?

Wrong. She says vaccines are only one way to keep kids healthy, as if nutrition and exercise would also prevent pertussis. She discusses making it easier for sick children to stay home, to avoid exposure. Never mind that children with measles are contagious days before showing symptoms. Hinson believes that's a choice.

Except for some, it's not. Many children, unlike Hinson's, are too sick for immunizations. If these are your kids, is Hinson working for their brighter future? Or for them to have a future at all?

Debbie Koopman

Cedar Rapids