Suzy Q Homemaker

I’m a big fan of Law & Order.  I watch all the spin-offs and find myself watching reruns on USA or TNT or whatever channel is running them.  My favorite is Criminal Intent, mostly because I have a braincrush on Vincent D’Onofrio’s character.  My next favorite is SVU.  I like the issues that they bring up and the way they are explored.

But I took issue with the rerun I caught last night.  Have you seen the episode with Hilary Duff about vaccinations?  Here’s a brief plot summary:

• Young mother reports baby missing
• Baby is found buried in a shallow grave
• Baby had died from measles
• It is discovered that baby caught measles from a child in the park
• The child’s mother had not vaccinated the child
• The child’s mother is then accused of MURDERING the baby

First of all, not once did anyone (except the child’s mother) accuse the baby’s mother of neglect.  She knew that the baby had a fever and rash, but didn’t take her to the doctor!  I’m sorry, but measles be damned.  If my infant has a fever and a rash, we’re calling the doctor and going to the ER.  Hilary Duff’s character spanked her baby for being fussy, went to bed, then when she woke up, the baby was dead.  So why wasn’t she blamed?

Instead, they went on a witch hunt and accused the mother who brought her son to the park, her son that wasn’t noticably ill at the time.  The boy had the measles a few days later, but recovered.  In court, the mother testified to reading books, the internet, and every source she could in order to make the decision that was best for her son.  I was impressed with her testimony.  I was half expecting the writers to have her character make a horrible speech about the dangers of vaxing and autism.

The writers of this episode of SVU spent half the episode demonizing parents who don’t vaccinate their children and it made me sick to my stomach.  Whether or not parent vaccinate, they should be proactive when their children, especially small babies are sick!  This fictional baby died because her mother was a selfish and ignorant parent, not because another parent made an informed choice.  Plain and simple.

Tags: Entertainment, parenting, vaccinations

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