Due to the volatile nature of the vaccine debate and its inclination to feed the troll epidemic, I’m placing the following warning label on the content of this article:
Warning: I am not anti-vaccine. I am pro-informed decision. I am pro-safe vaccine. I am pro-accountability. If you are, too, let’s talk about vaccines and parental responsibilities. This is one of the most important issues parents are facing today.
As parents, we are not responsible for making health decisions for entire populations. We make decisions for unique individuals. And yet, many parents are being forced to forego this fundamental responsibility. Laws that force ALL parents to inject ALL children — unquestioningly, with blind trust in the alliance of the pharmaceutical industry and the government — are demanding a kind of Russian roulette with our children’s health.
Unfortunately, parents can’t make it part of their family budget to hire lobbyists to make sure their best interests are first and foremost when new laws are passed. I wish I could say the same for pharmaceutical companies.
We are at a tipping point.
In the wake of the Disneyland measles outbreak, California politicians wasted no time closing any gaps that might have allowed a child to avoid vaccinations. SB 277 was signed into law July 1, 2016: “No shot. No Daycare. No School. Every child. Every Vaccine.”
Keep in mind that before SB 277 came into law, California’s vaccination rate was at 95%. This is the level needed to maintain the theory of herd immunity. As of August of last year, California vaccination rates were at, or at least near, all-time high levels. This is according to a memorandum put forth in a Motion for a Temporary Restraining Order and a Preliminary Injunction against the State of California in an effort to stay the new law. Several parents, whose children will purportedly be denied access to California public schools by the new law, filed the motion.
The hope is that it will preserve the rights of parents to make intelligent, informed health decisions for their kids, without compromising the health or education of some children.
SB 277 was based on incorrect assumptions, unsupported by the public record. The proponents of SB 277 assumed that healthy and disease-free children with PBEs [Personal Belief Exemptions] pose a risk to themselves and others, and that a large and increasing number of California children are “unvaccinated.” However, data from the California Department of Public Health (CDPH), the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), and other public sources belie any argument that SB 277 was necessary to protect public health. According to the CDPH, over 97% of school-aged children in California are fully vaccinated and an additional 2% plus are selectively vaccinated.
No vaccine comes in one-size-fits-all. Some children cannot tolerate vaccines.
Ask your doctor or legislator, “Will you sign a form stating that you take full responsibility for the good health of my child, as well as any damage done with this vaccine? All medical, emotional, physical and financial care will be provided for in case of vaccine injury, for the rest of this child’s life?” Sign here.
You, as a parent, already did. The form was called a “birth certificate.”
There is a hearing scheduled on August 12 to determine whether the motion has merit.
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