Mother wins case to vaccinate her daughter, despite father's opposition

A 12-year-old girl will be vaccinated for measles thanks to a decision by Judge Yehoram Shaked. On Wednesday, the judge ruled in favor of a divorced mother and against the wishes of the father, who sought to prevent the girl from being vaccinated. The mother, who has full physical custody of the girl, was forced to turn to the court in order to get permission to vaccinate her daughter after the father objected, arguing "there's no chance she'll contract measles" and insisting that his daughter "doesn't want to [be vaccinated]." In the verdict, the court included the testimony of Dr. Lior Ungar of Sheba Medical Center, who said that, "if an amusement park had a roller coaster ride in which one out of 600 children who rode on it would be ejected from the ride and killed, would you allow your child to get on it? That's measles."Ungar added that one out of 600 children who contracts measles will die, and that within a decade two out of 600 children will die from measles complications that result later in life, such as dementia and inflammation of the brain. He said that in such cases, little can be done and someone with late-stage complications could die within three years.Three million children died of measles around the world before the vaccination, he said.Shaked wrote that vaccinating against measles is "necessary and obligatory," as measles could become "an epidemic." He compared refusing to vaccinate children to "crossing a busy road with one's eyes covered." He added that "in order not to further inflame the relations between parents, he declined to order the father to cover the court fees, as is generally customary.