They say Abigail Adams feared inoculation, but she feared the smallpox even more. In 1776 while her husband, John Adams, was in Philadelphia for the big announcement about the Declaration of Independence, the couple was faced with a critical decision concerning their four young children. With her husband’s full support, she and the children headed to Boston to undergo the painful but promising process of inoculation which John had completed in 1764. They wanted their children to be protected from the horrendous disease that had already killed over 100,000 colonists in the budding democracy.
The treatment involved scraping a small bit of smallpox-infected serum into the body to hopefully induce a light case of smallpox that would build immunity against the disease and protect them all from future exposures to it. After Abigail had first inoculated herself, her earlier doubts and fears for the children had been abated and she had begun to trust the new science as well as a “kind providence” to help her carry them all safely through the process. One can only imagine her fears and her determination to do right by her children. However, just fifty-six years earlier Boston doctors and clergy brought the procedure to the American colonies. Without their vision and commitment, we would have never normalized inoculation for smallpox and most certainly General George Washington would never feel comfortable in mandating the treatment of his troops during the Revolutionary War. In fact, many historians credit Washington’s controversial medical mandate with winning the war that allowed successful gestation of our emerging democracy as well as the amazing vaccine that followed in 1796.
Abigail Adams also was known for advising her husband “not to forget the ladies” as the United States Constitution was being written. She warned that women will not hold ourselves bound to any laws in which we have no voice or representation.” The journey to women’s suffrage required patience, determination, and hard work, just as was required for our emerging democracy over and over again. It was not until August 26, 1920 , with the adoption of the 19th Amendment that women finally earned the vote.
It is interesting to note that Michigan state representatives Julie Rogers and Matt Longjohn, MD have recently introduced a package of bills to help families once again do the right thing when it comes to protecting the health of our families. The Empowering Parents, Protecting Communities package has been proposed to codify state immunization standards that are based on evidence-based policies and practices. It creates the Michigan Advisory Committee on Immunizations, a key step to keeping our important and personal decisions grounded in trusted medical advice.
As seniors, we can support parents in this process by sharing our memories of dreaded diseases long-gone due vaccines and by encouraging them to work closely with their health care providers to feel comfortable making decisions that affect their children and the community at large.
