Usually, divorce cases involving children are particularly tragic, no matter what the outcome is. But this Michigan mother is facing a true nightmare…and possible jail time for trying to defend her parental rights.
Rebecca Bredow, a mother of two, is facing jail time if she does not have her children vaccinated within a week.
She says that when she and her now-ex-husband first had children, they agreed that spacing out their children’s vaccines was the right choice for their family.
According to Action 7 News, Bredow says that she made sure to educate herself about her state’s vaccine laws and knew she was entitled to waivers on the basis of religions, philosophical, and medical beliefs.
“It wasn’t until they started grouping them together that I backed off of doing vaccines,” she says.
This week, an Oakland county judge sided with the father of her children, who apparently had a change of heart about vaccines and demanded his children get caught up on their immunizations.
“I would rather sit behind bars for standing up for what I believe in, than giving into something I strongly don’t believe in,” Bredow says. “I feel like my rights as a parent have been taken away.”
One of the saddest realities of divorce is that the parents of a child no longer feel obligated to work together to come to a decision about what is best for their children, and, like in Bredow’s case, they will turn to civic judges to force one parent to do something that is against their conscience.
Bredow’s rights are being violated. She should have every right to have a voice on such significant medical choices for her children.
Even if her children are ultimately caught up on their vaccines and their health remains intact, what of their spiritual health? And what of their mother’s rights over what happens to her own children?
It is certainly a shame that this couple could not ultimately agree on this matter and that a judge had to get involved, but both parents deserve a say in their children’s health and well-being. As we can see in the case of children who are raised by gay adults, our culture constantly promotes the idea that a parent’s desire for self-fulfillment and their own happiness is superior to what is best for their children, and often end up robbing their children of innocence or security in the process.
Please pray for this mother and her children that their family might find their way to reconciliation and peace.
