A child who was not vaccinated has died from measles in West Texas, the first death in an outbreak that began late last month and the first from measles in the U.S. since 2015.
The death was a “school-aged child who was not vaccinated” and had been hospitalized last week, the Texas Department of State Health Services said Wednesday in a statement. Lubbock health officials also confirmed the death, but neither agency provided more details. A news conference is scheduled for Wednesday afternoon.
Covenant Children’s Hospital in Lubbock didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment, nor did Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s office.
Could they be arrested for this though? Getting vaccinated isn’t mandatory. They made the very poor decision to not vaccinate their child, but is it neglect?
Vaccines are such a charged subject for political reasons (that felt so frustrating to type).
I try to find something analogous. If I had the option to remove a poisonous plant from my home, I didn’t because of personal choice, and my child ate the plant and died, I would consider it neglect.
Legally however, not even judges will agree with each other on this.