Punish Unvaxxed Kids' Parents? Elmhurst Hopeful Suggested It

ELMHURST, IL – A candidate for the Elmhurst school board suggested years ago that parents of unvaccinated children be charged with murder if their children die of preventable diseases.

Candidate Kelly Henry wrote her Facebook post in 2011, nearly a decade before the coronavirus pandemic. In the post, she shared a news story that measles cases were at a 15-year high in the United States.

"The selfishness of some people in this country not vaccinating their children affects everyone, especially small babies who have no defense and have not been yet vaccinated," Henry said. "It's unbelievable, parents who do not vaccinate and their kid dies of preventable diseases (or other kids) should be charged with murder in my opinion."

Asked about the dozen-year-old post, Henry, a doctor, said this week she was recently reminded of it. For starters, she said, the state is responsible for vaccine mandates, with local school boards having no bearing on such decisions.

Henry said it was also important to understand the context and timing of her comments.

"They were made while I was a physician-in-training in my 20s after personally witnessing children becoming ill and even dying from completely preventable diseases and injuries," Henry said in an email to Patch. "I was a strong and passionate advocate for children’s safety then, just as I continue to be today. While I do not condone my comments in entirety from that time, I continue to support and advocate for vaccines as they remain safe, save lives, and prevent communicable diseases. Lastly and importantly, I have never advocated for a mandatory COVID vaccine, and have no plans to do so in the future."

In early August 2021, Henry emailed the superintendent and school board about the district's mask policy.

The board had just approved Superintendent Keisha Campbell's recommendation to go mask optional. The governor later ordered districts to mandate masks.

In her 2021 email, Henry called the district's decision "careless." She said children do not have the choice to be vaccinated.

"As a pediatrician/hospital medicine physician in our community, this decision was such a disappointment for all of us in health care who have risked our lives over the last 18 months to care for COVID patients," Henry said.

The majority of cases in hospitals, she said, were those who chose not to be vaccinated.

"This is not a political debate," Henry said. "This is following logic and science, which I hope this school believes in teaching."

Before the board approved the mask policy, Henry joined more than 40 area doctors in a letter recommending a mask mandate. They said they were parents with children in Elmhurst.

In her email to Patch, Henry said the correspondence was in the middle of the pandemic.

"At that time, our youngest elementary students under the age of 12 had not yet been given the option to be vaccinated and we were advocating to start the school year with masks," Henry said. "The goal of the masks was to keep children safe from illness, prevent the spread of illness, and keep our schools open. I recognized at that time and continue to recognize the value of in-person learning for our students."