Michigan mother Rebecca Bredow would rather go to prison than get her son vaccinated — a stance that many consider extreme, not to mention reckless.
Bredow spoke with ABC News about what she believes should be her “personal choice.” She said, “I would rather go to jail for standing up for what I believe in than vaccinate my child.” Bredow and her ex-husband, James Horne, are battling over their son’s vaccinations. According to Bredow, her ex was originally fine with the idea of spacing out their child’s vaccines, but then he changed his mind and now wants their son to be fully vaccinated.
An Oakland County court sided with Horne. Bredow has been ordered to bring her son up to the “fullest extent medically allowed” by Wednesday this week — but this mandate means that she must agree to having her son receive eight vaccines all at once in a few days.
More: Mom Pens Powerful Message to Anti-Vaxxers About Her Sick Daughter
According ABC News, this has been a longstanding dispute. Bredow was legally ordered to have her son vaccinated back in November 2016 — almost a full year ago. A judge will now have to decide if Bredow will face jail time for this refusal.
“I can’t give in against my own religious belief. This is about choice. This is about having my choices as a mother to be able to make medical choices for my child,” Bredow told The Washington Post. “I haven’t had the opportunity to have my side heard. Most likely, I’ll be going to jail on Wednesday.”
Bredow did not specify what those religious beliefs entail.
The American Academy of Pediatrics continues to stress the vital importance of vaccines in protecting children. Its website states, “Vaccines have been part of the fabric of our society for decades and are the most significant medical innovation of our time. Vaccines are safe. Vaccines are effective. Vaccines save lives.”
Still, despite overwhelming and highly respected research proving the efficacy and massive benefits of vaccines for children, some parents still do not trust the data — and some states allow parents to opt out of vaccinating their kids.
Michigan is one of those states. In fact, Michigan even lets parents choose not to vaccinate for nonmedical reasons. So it’s unclear how the Michigan courts will handle Bredow’s refusal to vaccinate her son.
More: Can I Ask My Anti-Vaccination Sister to Keep Her Kids at Home?
Bredow explained that it’s the combining of vaccines that bothers her. “It wasn’t until they started grouping them together that I backed off of doing vaccines,” she told WXYZ Detroit.
According to the CDC, there’s zero evidence to suggest that combining vaccinations causes harm to children.
More Stories from Parenting
Leave a Comment