Anti/Vax: Reframing the Vaccination Controversy

FEATURING BERNICE HAUSMAN –  Few things generate as much controversy and emotional responses than the current debate around vaccines and mandatory vaccinations. The so-called Anti-Vax movement has gained steam over years of misinformation and fear-mongering around the dangers of vaccines and their links to autism among other things – all of which have been thoroughly debunked but continue to fuel lower vaccination rates.

Now with previously eradicated diseases like measles making a comeback precisely because vaccination rates are falling, states and municipalities are passing laws to enforce mandatory vaccinations. The anti-vaxxers are responding with assertions of bodily autonomy.

Bernice Hausman, Chair of the Department of Humanities at Penn State College of Medicine in Hershey, Pennsylvania. Her earlier books include Viral Mothers, Mother’s Milk, and Changing Sex. Her new book is called ‘Anti/Vax: Reframing the Vaccination Controversy‘.