Two legislative bills regarding vaccinations deserve passage.

LD 694, sponsored by Rep. Andrea Boland, D-Sanford, requires disclosure of the ingredients of vaccinations prior to immunizing those under 18. It also provides parents with the option of refusing immunization for their children.

Many parents do not object to every vaccine. However, they are philosophically opposed to health care providers having the power to coerce them into violating their wishes if they conclude that a particular vaccine is not appropriate for their child.

LD 941, sponsored by Sen. Douglas Thomas, R-Somerset, prohibits mandatory immunizations.

Noted American author and physician Andrew Weil wrote, “It is a common misconception that epidemics are at an all time low since the introduction of vaccinations. The reality is infectious diseases were declining dramatically in Western nations before the introduction of immunizations. This was due to improvements in social hygiene and other modernization factors.”

Vaccination is a medical intervention performed on a healthy person that has a potential for adverse reactions. That person should be at liberty to determine if that medical intervention would be of benefit to him or her.

The right to informed consent to medical treatment is an overarching ethical principle in the practice of medicine for which vaccination should be no exception.

Patti Mikkelsen, New Gloucester