Make the vaccination of children mandatory across the United States.

Vaccination of children should be made mandatory across the United States. Vaccines are the most effective way to prevent diseases such as mumps, measles, rubella, tetanus, hepatitis A and B, diptheria, and pertussis (whooping cough)- to name a few. People who choose not to vaccinate their children not only put their own children at risk for contracting these vaccine-preventable illnesses, but they also put others, such as those who cannot receive the vaccine yet (newborns) and those whose immune systems do not respond to vaccines. The smallpox vaccine was able to eradicate smallpox completely all over the world by 1977, so why can't we apply this principle to other vaccines for other diseases?