Choosing not to vaccinate is not “pro-choice”. It is pro-death.

This weekend across Australia, a series of protests are taking place against the Federal Government’s No Jab No Pay legislation, which comes into effect on January 1.

Under the new legislation, parents who don’t  vaccinate their children will no longer be paid the $200-a-week childcare benefit, the $7500-a-year childcare rebate or the $726 Family Tax Benefit A annual supplement.

No Jab No Pay. Sounds fair.

The rationale behind the legislation is to save lives — and it is already working, with a significant increase in conscientious objectors going for the incentive already.

But still the anti-vaccination fanatics insist on spreading their rhetoric, clogging up the streets with their placards and sprouting about their — frankly dangerous — ideas.

To those going, to those who still continue to stare down science, this is what we say to you:

A post from the discredited “Fans of the AVN” Facebook page.

Dear Rally Attendee,

So it’s your big weekend coming up.  A day to express your “opinion”, a day to march for your “human rights” and your “choice.”

Being a reasonable, thoughtful type who has obviously considered all the facts, I am sure you have the time to pause for a few minutes as you paint your placard to read this.

After all – that’s what you are lobbying for isn’t it? Freedom of opinion? The right to information.

First up, let’s look at what you say to your supporters:

Please, let me respond:

You say you are pro-choice.

Well here’s the thing. I don’t want you to have the choice to jeopardise my child’s health.

You should not have the “choice” to endanger my family. You should not have the choice to put my children at risk because of your misguided beliefs.

Choosing not to vaccinate is not pro-choice. It is pro-death.

Choosing not to vaccinate is not pro choice.

This isn’t about “human rights”.

As a parent who vaccinated my children, I have the rights here.

I have the right to take my kids to preschool and know that they will not be at risk of contracting a serious or potentially life-threatening illness because of the conscientious objections of others. I have earned that right by doing my bit and vaccinating my kids.

When you don’t — you forgo your rights.

(Oh, don’t worry. You still have the right to stick to your fervent belief – you just won’t get the moolah.)

In a recent article for Parents Magazine Dr Neal Halsey, Director of the Institute for Vaccine Safety at Johns Hopkins University, says that community rights — like those of the benefits of herd immunity — outweigh your right.

“Each community has a right to maintain high levels of protection for those children who can’t be vaccinated,” Dr. Halsey says.

“The overwhelming picture is that vaccines are beneficial and keep children healthy. And that’s exactly what all of us want—parents, health-care providers, and the people who make the vaccines.”

That’s the right here. The right to stay alive.

You talk about how there should be “no ridicule or coercion”.

But yet, you ridicule your own families when you choose to believe mistruths. You choose to rehash fallacies that have been proven and proven time and time again to be just that, fallacies. You try and coerce the public into your distorted point of view.

Many anti-vaccination groups publically threaten and torment credible authors and scientists who speak out encouraging vaccinations.

To say that you are being coerced into having vaccines or missing out on your “rightful” payments is ridiculous.

The fact is, to be blunt, you earn no rights to our taxpayer dollars if you endanger our lives.

There is no “other side”.

There is no point “investigating the issue,” as you say. It has been investigated. The debate has been finalised.

On one hand you have science, centuries of research. And on the other you have — well, there is no other hand.

There is no “issue” to investigate.

And just to make my point, here are few more things I want you to keep in mind:

Polio:

Diptheria:

Riley Hughes:

Riley Hughes was four weeks old when he died from whooping cough in Perth earlier this year.

We know you just love your kids.  But I want you to know that using words like hoax and conspiracy and “big pharma” make you seem a little nutso.

Attending rallies based on falsities makes you seem a little ignorant.

And putting my children in danger makes you seem more than a little selfish.

Get your jab, or forfeit your pay. Simple.

What do you have to say to those are attending the No Jab No Pay rallies this weekend?