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Best Interest, Basic Interest, and Parental Autonomy in Child Vaccination Choices. On Roland Pierik and Marcel
Abstract:
Roland Pierik and Marcel Verweij, in their excellent book Inducing Immunity?, draw a distinction between 'best interest' and 'basic interest' and use such distinction as a criterion for legitimate state interference with parental choices, including in the case of vaccination. While protection of children's basic interests does provide a solid basis for the justification of state intervention in vaccination decisions, I want to offer some considerations and raise some questions about how the distinction between best and basic interest is conceptualized in the book, about some assumption on the relationship between freedom of choice and best interest that that distinction implies, and about some broader implications for discussion of child vaccination. I will conclude by raising a question about the justification for mandating vaccination within Pierik's and Verweij's ethical framework.
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