I got chicken pox as a teenager and got it bad. I was out for several weeks and still have scars from it. I would gladly have had the vaccine if it had been available. I will also be the first to get a shingles vaccine when I get older.
People died from measles and got permanent brain damage and deafness from it. It's one of the most highly communicable diseases known to man. My grandfather suffered from the after effects of polio all his life. I think the problem is that these anti-vaxers have never seen and don't understand the damage these diseases have caused in the past, nor do they think about what their choices will do for children too young to be vaccinated or people with weak immune systems like my sister. It's especially bad when people who catch measles go to the doctor's office and expose everyone there, with a higher likelihood of exposing people least able to deal with it. I know people who take medication to suppress their immune systems and people with weakened immune systems.
I feel if someone who did not get the vaccine by choice infects someone else who can't get the vaccine or who has a compromised immune system then that person should be responsible for all of the medical costs. I also think the exemptions should go away unless there is a medical need for the exemption. My state is already proposing this which I think is a good thing.
Someone's right to not get a vaccine should not trump my sister's right to live (she has a compromised immune system) or a baby's life.
A friend of my father's who works at Intel is one of these anti-vaccine nuts. She believes in using Chinese herbal medicine and refuses to let her baby be vaccinated and nothing we say seems to convince her otherwise.