Vaccination in France is constitutional

Vaccination in France is constitutional

03/21/2015

The French Constitutional Council has decided against vaccination opponents. If parents do not have their children vaccinated against tetanus, diphtheria and polio, they may face fines or even imprisonment. In Germany, there has been heated debate over a statutory measles vaccination obligation for a long time.

Vaccination opponents fail in court
The French Constitutional Court (Conseil constitutionnel) has taken a decision against vaccination opponents on Friday. According to the online magazine „Telepolis“ decided that „Constitution ways“: The vaccination is constitutional. The parents, who refused the prescribed vaccinations for their three-year-old daughter and even younger son, now have to face fines of up to two years and a fine of up to € 30,000 in their pending case before a court in Auxerre.

„Right to health“
As the magazine further reports, the Constitutional Council affirmed that legal rules requiring parents, „who, without a legitimate motive, evade their legal obligations and thus endanger their health, safety, morality (morality) or the education of their minor children“ and therefore face penalties, are also in line with the Constitution. From the side of the lawyer's parents became a constitutionally anchored „Right to health“ against the legal obligation to vaccinate.

Vaccines pose too many risks
The parents had refused to have their children vaccinated against diphtheria, tetanus and polio as prescribed. Children are not admitted to nurseries, kindergartens or schools in France without these vaccinations. Loud „tagesschau.de“ Educators argued that the vaccines currently available on the market would be too risky and designed to target diseases that no longer exist in France. In addition, the vaccine against the three diseases is currently usually combined with other vaccines for other diseases such as whooping cough or meningitis, for which vaccination is not mandatory.

No vaccination in Germany
France is one of the few countries in Western Europe where vaccination is still required. In Germany, adults can decide for themselves as well as for their children, whether and which vaccinations they use. The Standing Vaccination Commission (STIKO), a panel of experts, issues vaccination recommendations on various diseases. Currently, especially the current measles wave provides for heated discussions about a legal compulsory vaccination again. So far, over 1,000 people in Germany have measles. According to the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), the recommended vaccination quota against the contagious infectious disease is not reached here. (Ad)