Privilege and Parents’ Choice to Refuse Pediatric Vaccines

In research on pediatric vaccine refusal that occurred in the mid-2010s, an interesting theme emerged—that of the relative privilege of some parents who delay or refuse vaccines. However, privilege is not clearly defined. The author points to accounts of privilege in feminist philosophy to fill this gap but argues that existing accounts are vague about what privilege confers. She offers some clarifications: privilege confers both tangible resources and options to do certain things or be a certain way to dominant social groups. The author then returns to the case of vaccine refusal to demonstrate the nature and value of this distinction in what privilege includes.