The word mandatory/compulsory is misleading in this context. Parents do not face criminal sanctions for refusal to vaccinate their kids. Even in places like Slovakia where the could face fines the courts are ruling against mandatory vaccination. This piece is timely.
Compulsory does not neccessarily mean it has to be a crime. It is still compulsory even with a fine and such. I am sure even a fine is going to ensure high enough compliance to achieve herd immunity. There arent that many anti-vaxxers who are determined enough to refuse still. I read somewhere that most common cause for not vaccinating is actually lack of awareness or lazyness.
If refusal to vaccinate does cause widespread issues, then punishments should be tougher, I dont have a problem with that.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/story/2009/06/26/supreme-blood026.html
There are similar cases in the US.
Thats not about free speech.
Like someone else said, your consistency is a little off. So it's not OK to prosecute people for false claims which should really not be protected as free speech, but it's perfectly fine to force people to vaccinate their kids?
Yes, of course! Free speech rights are one of the most basic, personal and important, certainly more than right to decide what to do about OTHER UNCONSENTING PEOPLES bodies. So how is this inconsistent? Most countries on the planet will force parents or child to comply if the health of the child is endagered, and for a good reason, it is basically child abuse to not do so. But to ban speech that may be potentialy dangerous for society, like anti-vaxxers? That would not fly mostly anywhere, is a huge ad-hoc precedent, and is a big intrusion into private matters of people that dont even necessarily affect third persons directly.
You are putting a cart before the horse in a big way. First we need to ban something, then there is nothing for a long long ... long stretch, and then if the matter is serious enough we may talk about free speech restrictions. Your position is like legalising child molestation yet keeping a ban on child porn (****ety analogy but you get my drift, there arent that many justified free speech restrictions that I can use).