​Vegan Anti-Vaxxer Mom Forced to Vaccinate Her Kids By Judge

The mother—who cannot be named for legal reasons—raised both boys as vegan and described them in court as healthy children who eat "only natural products." The two boys, aged two and four, live with their mother in Lincoln. In comments reported by the Daily Mail, she also told the court, "Their bodies are as free of toxins as I can possibly make them."

However, the boys' father described the woman in court as obsessive and narrow-minded, telling the court that the woman "has a suspicion of conventional medicinal methods." He also alleged that she was unwilling to even give the children Calpol, a common British painkiller-based medication similar to Tylenol Infant.

But the woman told the court that vaccines were "unavoidably unsafe" and argued, "What I have learned simply is that, yes, vaccines do work some of the time, but there is a definite risk with vaccination."

She added, "It is not natural to be injected with metal elements and as a vegan it goes against my beliefs for my children to be injected with something that is grown on animal cells or something that has been tested on animals." (Some vaccines, like the flu vaccine, are incubated in chicken eggs during the production process.)

Unfortunately, the High Court disagreed. "I am truly sorry that the mother will regard the decision as wrong, but my objective duty is clear," Judge Mark Rogers said, highlighting that she had been unable to find a medical expert willing to support her claims in court. "I have serious concerns as to her ability to look objectively and even-handedly."

As a result of the judge's ruling, the boys will now undergo routine vaccinations against diseases including diphtheria, polio, meningitis, measles, mumps, and rubella.

Anti-vaxxer beliefs have converged with the more extreme fringes of veganism for some time now. Both share a distrust of the ingredients commonly found in vaccines, like aluminums, formaldehyde, and mercury-containing preservatives. (In reality, vaccines are medically safe and undergo exhaustive clinical trials before being administered to humans.)

One high-profile vegan blogger writes of being handed "leaflets warning me of the 'dangers of vaccines' at vegan events". And you'll find endless discussion of the merits and demerits of vaccination in the vegan blogosphere.

Meanwhile, the advice from the UK healthcare authorities remains the same: Vaccinate your kids. "Childhood vaccines such as MMR, the Men B vaccine, and the five in one diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, polio, and Haemophilus influenzae type b vaccine, still defend our children from serious harm," says Dr. Mary Ramsay, Head of Immunization at Public Health England. "We continue to encourage all parents to get the best protection for their children and make sure they are all fully immunized."

But while the anti-vaxxer movement may be picking up steam, not all vegans share the view that you have to reject everyday medicine if it involves animal testing.

"When choosing cosmetics, vegans can pick products that have not been tested on animals but unfortunately we don't currently have such a choice with medicines or vaccinations," says Dominika Piasecka, a spokesperson for The Vegan Society. "The Vegan Society never advises anyone to stop taking prescribed medicines but we do encourage patients to speak to their doctors to see if a vegan-friendly alternative is available."