I think its a good idea for ALL parents to go through a mandatory vaccination information form, so that they know the actual medical facts about it. 

Here's a hypothesis from an abstract submitted to Princeton in 2006:

Mother’s Level of Education. I expect mother’s level of education is negatively
associated with vaccine status. Because parents with more education are generally better able
to understand the complex information contained in medical articles and web sites (from
which many obtain arguments against immunizations), I expect that children whose mothers
graduated from college are more likely to be un-vaccinated than children whose mothers did
not graduate high school.

Household Income & Poverty Status. I expect income/poverty status is negatively
associated with vaccine status. Specifically, I expect that children who live in households
with higher income (above $50,000 per year) are more likely to be un-vaccinated than
children who live in households with lower income (below poverty).

The following passages are from the same abstract and talk about the findings of the research:

Having been breastfed is significantly associated with vaccine status. Children who were
ever breastfed are significantly more likely to be un-vaccinated than they are to have received
any vaccinations. This higher proportion of breastfed children who are un-vaccinated may
reflect an association between these two characteristics though a common link, possibly the
back-to-nature movement that has a particular interest in organic foods and physical wellbeing
that may influence their attitudes towards vaccinations.

Interestingly, breastfed children are also more likely to be fully-vaccinated than children
who were not breastfed. However, breastfed children are so much more likely to be unvaccinated
that the larger number that are fully-vaccinated is balanced out by the smaller
number who are partly-vaccinated (so that together, breastfed children are significantly less
likely to have had any vaccinations).

The least educated and most educated mothers (those who
did not complete high school and those who graduated from college) have the highest
proportions of un-vaccinated children in the sample. However, children with more highly
educated mothers also tend to be fully-vaccinated and children with less educated mothers
also tend to be partly-vaccinated. So, children of college graduates tend to be either unvaccinated
or fully-vaccinated, while children of mothers who did not finish high school tend
to be either un-vaccinated or partly-vaccinated.

The highest proportion of un-vaccinated children are in households with incomes above
poverty but less than $50k per year (moderate income), followed by households with
incomes above $50k per year (the highest income category). Households with income below
poverty have the lowest proportion of un-vaccinated children (and yet these same households
have the highest proportion of partly-vaccinated children.

*************************************

I pulled out the hypotheses and findings from research that helped support my previous statement.  It is based on analytical research....by the numbers.  Here is the link to the abstract in case you are curious:

http://paa2009.princeton.edu/download.aspx?submissionId=90224


The highest percentage of un-vaccinated children do not come from uninformed, uneducated, low income homes.

And now for coffee......
~O)

Yes exactly what @lauriebizz said
Including the more coffee thing. lol

It could also be argued that new strains of what is being vaccinated against could pop up and cause problems.

FYI -- My son is fully vaccinated.  I cannot say one way or another if I would have done vaccination if he hadn't of been born early.  I have CHOSEN to continue his vaccinations however.  No point in stopping short if I am physically and financially capable of doing so.  The abstract I found also mentioned that vaccines in 2006 were on average $447 or something like that.

@anonmom yes, the bank is going to cover it and any fees associated.  But things are going to bounce and I have no money - thankfully we have a pantry full of food that we never eat (why is that?), gas in our cars and payday is only a few days away... so much for my budget this month!

I love it. I don't see any problem with forcing parents to be educated by medical professionals. You can access all sorts of information online that is FALSE and a college education does not prevent one from acting with ignorance and without any thought for how their actions will effect the rest of us, which is what I personally feel, not vaccinating amounts to.

@Meghann is that meant to read "a college education does prevent" or "a college education does NOT prevent"?   If it is the latter I whole-heartily agree with your entire statement.  And for the record I know plenty of people with advanced degrees with less common sense than an earthworm!

Also I don't agree with this part: “The latter mandate would likely require parents to spend time and money
in a doctor’s office when they are not sick, just to get information
they could have accessed online.”  First off I would think that this type of education/information would be presented during routine well-baby/child checks. Secondly, just as Meghann said there is loads of false or misleading "information" online.  Don't believe everything you read.

Oops! Sorry @phdmommy, you are correct that should say does NOT! Not enough coffee!

I don't think the government should mandate vaccines.  I think they are a good idea, I chose them for my kids (at a different pace than the doctors, 5 shots in one day...bitch please), but I am not going to tell you what to do with your kids.  If your kids contribute to an outbreak of pertussis, or rubella and a baby dies...you can bet I will be pissed, but you have to live with it...not me.  Bottom line is that the government should not step into parenting unless there is serious or ongoing neglect or abuse.

I agree wholeheartedly @NoMoreMonkeys!

I don't see a problem with educating parents on vaccines, but it will probably be a one sided education in stead of a wholistic education. Like a quote in the article says you can get all the information you need off the internet!! I am sure the education that they would give in a doctors office you could get just by going to the CDC website and reading and researching there. In the end I say its a big waste of time because of all the people I know who selectively vaccinate or do not vaccinate at all has done their reasearch and a much more in depth research than you can get in a doctors office!

To each their own. I think the doctor offices should educate parents/guardians more than they do about them though. I also believe they should be optional. 

You know, I am pretty hard-core PRO-vaccinations...but I am also pretty hard-core ANTI-gov't mandates.  I was sincerely TICKED that I couldn't get priority registration in the public schools because priority registration is in April, my DS's b-day is in May, and he wouldn't get 1 vaccine until his 5 year check up.  So I can't get into the morning kindergarten classes because of when my son was born!  I threw a HISSY FIT!!  Did not make many friends with the school administration...I asked for a conscientious objection form...the nurse actually ROLLED HER EYES AT ME!!, AUDIBLY SIGHED!!!!, and gave me a piece of paper with an address for the county health office.  Apparently, in order to NOT vaccinate your children, you have to REGISTER with the STATE!!!  Ridiculous!  

@hallfamily727....I didn't say there weren't valid reasons to NOT vaccinate...obviously you have done your homework and sadly, it couldn't be done for your child.  That's what I used the word "most" instead of "all"...

Oh to vax or not to vax? I personally am pro vaccination and my kids are both fully vaccinated. They both also have PDD/HFA. After my son was diagnosed I had a brief moment of OMG, maybe there really is something to that whole MMR injury causing autism. I was reading everything the Internet had to offer b/c I wanted to know the cause, felt like it had to be "something that happened" or whatever. So when dd was born in decided that I wouldn't do the MMR with her. Still wanted to vaccinate her, but chose to do them all individually with a month btwn each one instead of the 3 in 1 shot. Well, guess what she has HFA too, so there goes that theory. (not to mention the fact that the study has been totally debunked now, and they've proven that the research was flawed.) But whatever, if I paid attention to every study that came out about possible autism causes I'd go batshit crazy! Bottom line is that vaccinating your kids is a personal choice, everyone should be educated about it in order to make the most informed decision possible, but to me it feels like having mine fully vaccinated is the responsible choice, for them and for the kids around them.