All of that knowledge must have involuntarily flashed across my face as my friend spoke, because she immediately rolled her eyes and said, “I know. I know. I don’t really want to do it, but my parents are caretakers for the kids and they are insisting.”

I’m not going to judge her choice or parenting style. This is her business, not mine. As a conservative, I am very much a fan of letting people make their own choices for themselves, even if sometimes those choices might be wrong. Her statement made me cringe, not because I condemn her choice, but because I realized it wasn’t her choice at all.

So, this is what I want to tell parents who feel confused or hesitant about making the choice to have their children vaccinated for COVID.

If you have reservations, don’t do it.

If you have hesitations, don’t do it.

If you have questions, don’t do it.

If you have a gut feeling, a bad feeling, or a pit in your stomach about it, don’t do it.

If you feel the shame lobbed at you from other people is the reason you’re doing it, don’t do it.

You are not crazy. You are not some nutjob who doesn’t read, or some fanatic progressive who bases their S C I E N C E on headlines from The New York Times and nothing more. You are a parent.

You are the first and the last line of defense for your child. No one loves your child the way you do. No one cares for the safety and well-being of your child the way you do. There is no one in this world who cares more about the life of your child than you do.

You have been equipped with parental instincts, evolutionary warning signals, women’s intuition, fatherly concern…call it what you want. The fact is every parent has an innate and unquantifiable connection with their child. It is a connection that sends us warning signals, raises the hair on the back of our necks, and gives us those uneasy feelings when we know something is not right with or for our children.

My friend’s parents have every right to shut themselves away from the world and do whatever they feel is necessary to protect themselves, even if it might seem silly to the rest of us.

My friend also has the right to tell them to take a hike. I understand she may be feeling like she’s in a tough spot. She depends on her parents for help with her own children while she works. But no one said parenting is easy, and too many of us often push aside our gut feelings when it comes to our kids, in favor of doing what is easier. I’m not saying I have solutions for her.

What I am saying is that she has a responsibility to her child, and if her motherly instinct is giving her pause with this vaccine, then she should heed that and tell her parents to shove their fear in a syringe and stick it in someone else’s arm.

There are serious questions surrounding how this vaccine affects young females in particular. A woman’s body is an extremely sensitive and complex organism. There is a reason why there is an entire medical profession centered on caring for women’s health. Most women will want to bear their own children one day. It is unconscionable to subject them to an experimental vaccine that could unknowingly strip them of that choice when they’re finally ready to make it. If you have even the slightest reservation, please do not do it.

Your child’s risk from a COVID fatality is statistically zero. The risk of your child “transporting” COVID from one person to another is not much higher. But even if you don’t believe those things, even if you fear this virus for your child, you should not do anything in the way of treatment or vaccination that raises those little warning flags in your mind. You must trust your instincts.

I believe there are a lot of parents right now who are vaccinating their kids from COVID against their better judgment. They feel pressured by other parents, or their own family, who may get more of their COVID information from the chyrons on cable news than from actual data sources.

Don’t let bullies override your instincts. There is too much at stake here. Imagine finding out 10 years from now that the vaccine damages ovarian functions, and just as you imagine yourself settling into the life of a grandparent, you discover your children can’t bear children of their own because of a choice you made.

I’m not saying never get the COVID shot for your child. I am saying that if you have a bad feeling about it, trust your instincts. You’re not a moron, you’re the person in charge of protecting the most precious people on earth…your children.