Blogger Leila Stead defends claim that mums should have "the right to choose" to vaccinate.

Gold Coast-based blogger Leila Stead, creator of The Single Mum Diaries, hosted a Facebook live on Tuesday entitled ‘To Vax or Not to Vax’.

It was a discussion about the “right parents should have to choose” to vaccinate their children.

“We should not take away a woman’s right to choose what is best for her children,” Stead, whose 10-month-old daughter is vaccinated, told the camera. “We must try to remember that one thing unites us and that is the love for our children”.

The forum was met with a whirlwind of criticism, and Stead has since addressed the strong reaction in subsequent Facebook and blog posts.

“I am so glad that I posted about this taboo subject because all the different opinions and values are incredible,” Stead said.

“Things like this should be discussed and topics like this should be debated.”

In the accompanying video, she reiterated her belief that mothers should have the right to choose.

“I’m a very open-minded person. I very much believe in the choice and the right to choose,” she told the camera.

“I found that both side of the fence has some really strong arguments. Both sides only want one thing for children: the very best.

“We need to remember that, no matter the choice we make for our children, it doesn’t make us any less of a mother. I for one stand behind a woman’s right to choose.”

In a blog post, she added, “If that makes me irresponsible or stupid, if that makes you view me as someone who is a danger to society then I feel that the issue lies with you, not me.”

This comes just a month after Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull wrote to State Premiers around the country urging them to ban un-vaccinated children from enrolling in child car.

“This has got to be a concerted national effort by all governments to ensure all our children can be vaccinated. No jab, no pay, no play,” Turnbull told the ABC in March.

Since the start of the year, NSW has seen 22 recorded cases of measles, a disease that can be prevented completely with immunisation. In 21017, NSW has also seen the first case of tetanus in 10 years. It was a little girl in northern NSW who hadn’t been immunised.

This morning, NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard was on ABC radio discussing the current outbreak of measles in Western Sydney.

“I’m trying to strongly encourage parents in NSW to get serious about immunising their children,” Hazzard told Wendy Harmer on breakfast radio.

“If you love your children, then that’s the basics. Go and get them immunised because they may die or end up with serious life-long disabilities if you don’t do something about it.”

Minister Hazzard  said he was hoping education and awareness will put a stop to the anti-vaccination movement. But also confirmed stricter measures, such as banning un-vaccinated children from attending childcare and schools will also be implemented if the softer, more educational approach fails.

Following backlash from fans and media, Stead has called upon her right to freedom of speech.

“The freedom of speech is a beautiful thing and I feel that so many things can be misconstrued unless you know someone by heart,” she posted on social media last night.

“The only point I wanted to make was that we should feel that we can discuss it, that we can fearlessly say ‘I want to know more’ we are always teaching children ‘ask questions and find answers’ and we spend years in school being told ‘research, compare, analyse’ I for one will continue that on though my life.”

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In this case, no further research is needed.

Vaccinations have successfully prevented the spread of diseases such as small pox, measles, mumps, polio, tetanus, whooping cough, the list goes on.

By “choosing” to deny vaccination, parents are putting their children at risk. Surely that is all the ‘analysis’ required.