Should you vaccinate your children? It's a question that here in Texas can be divisive.
The law here says you don't have to, and every year more students are going back to school without vaccinations.
Now, prominent Houston doctor Peter Hotez fears a measles outbreak could happen this school year in Texas. The data shows a disturbing trend.
Since 2009, 12 states: Arkansas, Arizona, Idaho, Maine, Minnesota, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas and Utah have seen an increase in vaccine exemptions.
But in Texas the data is startling. In 2003, parents of 2,314 students opted of vaccines. Now, it's more than 57,000. If you do the math, that's a 20 fold increase.
Phoenix ranked No. 1 as the worst city in the country where parents instead of doctors are choosing not to vaccinate their children. Fort Worth (#8) and Plano (#9) made the list too. But tops in Texas was definitely Houston, ranked 7th.
Locally, some area school districts do worse than others.
Last year, HISD had 92.7 percent of its students vaccinated for measles. Montgomery ISD was slightly better at 94.4 percent. Fort Bend, Cy-Fair and Katy ISD's all led the way with 97%+ measles vaccine rates.
Experts worry these numbers will continue to drop as more parents decide not to vaccinate their children. It's a decision that only increases the risk of disease for everyone else.
The anti-vaccine lobby is one of the most powerful lobbying groups in the state of Texas. It argues vaccines are dangerous for developing children and can cause autism. There is no data or science to back up that claim.