Actress Kristen Bell Says Refusing to Vaccinate Children is 'Unacceptable'

Health inspection and quarantine researchers work in their laboratory at an airport in Qingdao, Shandong province August 11, 2014. | (Photo: Reuters/China Daily)

Actress Kristen Bell recently spoke out against parents who don't vaccinate their children, saying such a decision is unacceptable.

Bell said in a recent interview with Good Housekeeping for their May 2015 issue that she believes vaccinating one's child is for the good of society, to ensure other children do not get sick from a disease that could have been prevented.

"[…] there is a lot of scientific, proven information out there that shows why vaccinations are necessary. Kids with autoimmune diseases, kids who are receiving cancer treatments — they can't be vaccinated because their immune systems [can't handle it]," Bell told the magazine.

"If your kid has leukemia, he can't get vaccinations; if he then goes to school with my kid and I chose not to give my kid vaccinations, I'm putting your kid at risk. To me, that's unacceptable. There are the weak among us whom we have to protect. As moms, our responsibility is not just to our kids — it's to all the other kids, too. People often misplace fear. Your child is 100 times more likely to be struck by lightning than to have a severe reaction to a vaccine. That's a fact."

Recently, a large measles outbreak that originated in California then spread to several states, resulting in over 100 cases throughout the country.

The outbreak became so severe that President Barack Obama issued a statement encouraging parents to vaccinate their children, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed that the 2014 measles outbreaks in the U.S. had reached a new record.