Our Physiology class dealt with the idea of stress and how stress affects various parts of the systems in our bodies. Along with stress, there are other components that can affect the ability of a woman to reproduce and have a healthy baby. When untreated, a woman with a sexually-transmitted disease/infection (STD/STI) has a very low chance in becoming pregnant and having a successful birth. Most STIs are treated with vaccines, but there is a small population that are anti-vaxxers, meaning that they believe vaccines cause more harm than the actual infection itself. I became very curious about this topic and wanted to investigate more.
The American Sexual Health Association (ASHA) advocates for women to receive frequent vaccines if they have an STD. An untreated STI results in pelvic inflammatory disease PID that contributes to tubal damage and the inability to fertilize an ova. Other consequences that PID causes are the painful and uncomfortable experience during a pregnancy, if there is one, and during the delivery. The well being of the newborn is also affected.
Allison M. Whelan, in her article, Lowering the Age of Consent: Pushing Back against the Anti-vaccine Movement, describes how it is important for children to take action in their own health, if their parents are anti-vaxxers. The article suggests that children should be able to consent for their own health as early as the age of 12 without the consent of a parent. This age was recommended because it is around the age that these pre-teens are becoming more sexually curious. Legislation has not yet passed this law due to tensions between anti-vaxxers and pro-vaxxers.
Connecting all of this together, if a young teen of the age of 12 gets infected with an STI and is left untreated due to her parents being anti-vaxxers, the likelihood of her having a successful pregnancy when she is older, is slim. This a moral conflict because the parents of this girl are consenting to her health. What is the right thing to do here? When is it appropriate for a parent to decide what the child needs? When is appropriate for the child to decide for herself?
References:
Whelan, A. M. (2016). Lowering the Age of Consent: Pushing Back against the Anti-Vaccine Movement. Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics, 44(3), 462–473. https://doi-org.dml.regis.edu/10.1177/1073110516667942
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