Media Advisory: Polls begin to show growing partisan divide on child vaccination, expert says

LAWRENCE — When three potential Republican presidential candidates mentioned recently that in some cases vaccinating children should be done on a voluntary basis, it touched off a political firestorm, especially with the recent measles outbreak in the United States.

A University of Kansas researcher who studies the effects of partisanship on public opinion and polling is available to comment on political trends related to vaccination and public health issues.

Patrick Miller, assistant professor of political science, recently wrote an article on partisanship attitudes among voters in the journal Politics, Groups and Identities.

Miller said public health issues such as vaccinations have become increasingly politicized in the last decade as critics have become skeptical of their safety, opposed to "big government" requiring them and even certain conspiracy theories.

"In fact, we've already seen some evidence of a growing partisan divide in public opinion on the vaccine issue," Miller said. "Allegiance to our parties is one of the strongest influences on our political opinions, and even science and public health are not immune to that."