How France Is Handling Its Own Vaccine Debate

Liberty’s always been the thing, in America, even before a famous copper bell ever cracked in Philadelphia. This Monday, Sen. Thom Tillis, Republican of North Carolina, suggested that maybe businesses shouldn’t require their employees to wash their hands after using the bathroom. We need room for individuality! Elsewhere in the arena of public health and hygiene, the number of measles cases in the country was mounting, and the roiling debate over vaccinations has jabbed its way into the presidential field. Does she or doesn’t she, would he or wouldn’t he, and should, and must we? One by one, politicians are voicing their views, not to mention their own measles and mumps records. And just as this is happening in the United States, across the Atlantic, the same discours is taking part in France. A French couple stands accused of mistreatment: they could face two years in prison, and a $35,000 fine, for refusing to vaccinate their children.

Samia and Marc Larère live in Auxerre, Burgundy, not two hours by car from from Paris. They are not new-agey spiritual types, they say, but they do believe in alternative medicine. The Larères have two small children, and they decided not to vaccinate them against polio, tetanus, and diphtheria.