[NVIC] Grassroots Vaccine Freedom Movement Gears Up

[Guest guest]

Grassroots Vaccine Freedom Movement Gears Up

by Barbara Loe Fisher

The grassroots vaccine safety and freedom movement in America, which

was launched by parents of DPT vaccine injured children in 1982, has

been gaining public support during the past quarter century as the

numbers of vaccines medical doctors force children to get has more

than doubled. From

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York and New Jersey to

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dpcVA7eucA_KKgxoWt9FNjAOkwtUMnh2i4zj_-xJdFfS>Missouri

and

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Americans young and old in big towns and small cities around the

nation are joining together to talk about how to change the

increasingly oppressive mandatory vaccination laws in their states so

they can make informed, voluntary decisions about vaccination.

It is no surprise that decades of collective denial and neglect by

the medical community has led to a demand for fewer and more flexible

vaccine laws. The calls jamming the phone lines and the emails and

letters from desperate parents pouring into the National Vaccine

Information Center have never been more alarming or heartbreaking

than they are right now.

Mothers describe how they took their child to a pediatrician or

public health clinic for a scheduled well baby " check-up " or sick

child visit and witnessed nurses and doctors injecting their child

with 5 or 8 or 12 vaccines all at once, Then, they say, they watched

their children regress into chronic poor health and disability. Many

of the children have suffered previous vaccine reactions, which were

ignored or dismissed as " a coincidence " by doctors insisting the

children be re-vaccinated. Other children are sick and on

antibiotics. Others have been born premature or have personal or

family histories of severe allergies and autoimmune and neurological

disorders.

Over and over again, mothers describe in identical terms what they

witnessed, their babies and children suffer following vaccination -

seizures, high pitched screaming, collapse, unconsciousness, high

fevers, body rashes, head banging, flapping, profound personality

changes - cognitive and physical regression that changes the child

physically, mentally and emotionally forever. And over and over

again, mothers describe how their pediatricians stubbornly deny the

vaccines just given had anything to do with what happened.

As someone who has witnessed the proliferation of vaccines and

vaccine laws devastate the health of three generations of children,

there are no words to adequately describe the pain, despair and fear

that has destroyed the once joyful time of young parenting in America

today. Children and their parents have become unwilling victims of a

medical- industrial complex driven by the profit motive and powered

by an ideology that has a callous disregard for individual human life.

It is no wonder that more and more Americans, young and old, are

demanding the right to make informed, voluntary vaccination choices

for themselves and their families. The grassroots vaccine safety and

freedom movement in America is taking root in many states,

particularly in those with the fewest exemptions and most vaccine

mandates inflexibly implemented.

The conscientious belief exemption to vaccination should be added to

the religious exemption in every state and medical exemptions should

be widened to provide enlightened physicians with the power to write

exemptions for those who do and do not have medical conditions

conforming to the narrow one-size-fits-all contraindication

guidelines of the CDC and AAP.

The right to informed consent to use of any pharmaceutical product or

medical procedure, which carries a risk of injury or death, is a

human right. Vaccination should be no exception.

NVIC supports the efforts in every state to change vaccine laws to

allow informed, voluntary vaccine decision-making. In Mississippi,

parents will be meeting March 17, 2008 at 6 p.m. at the Flowood

Public Library, 103 Winners Circle, Flowood, MS to talk about adding

a conscientious belief exemption to Mississippi state laws, which

only allow a medical exemption. Go to

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p://parents.m

eetup.com/465/ for more information.

***********************************************************

" As states move to require more vaccines for school-age children, an

increasing number of parents are saying no to some of the

inoculations. They are seeking exemptions from the state in growing

numbers....Rita M. Palma, of Bayport, N.Y., sought a religious

exemption from vaccines for her three sons but was turned down after

a hearing with school officials. She said she had become increasingly

uncomfortable with the vaccines the boys were getting.....After

submitting a written request for a religious waiver, she was

questioned at a two-hour hearing by the lawyer for the

Bayport-Bluepoint School District and turned down last February by

the school board. The New York Civil Liberties Union is now pursuing

her case. " It is unbelievably traumatic to have your religious

convictions questioned, " Mrs. Palma said. " For schools to be in the

religious sincerity business is just outrageous. " Sue ,

co-founder of the New Jersey Alliance for Informed Choice in

Vaccination, said parents often face a variety of roadblocks when

seeking vaccine exemptions in the state. " We see schools decline

letters, or tell parents that clergy must write letters, " she said.

" Parents are being harassed and being asked to do things above and

beyond the law. " Assemblywoman Charlotte Vandervalk, a Republican

from Bergen County, who introduced a conscientious exemption bill for

vaccines, said parents shouldn't have the burden of proving a

religious or medical reason to refuse vaccines. " This is America; you

don't force it on everybody, " Ms. Vandervalk said. " - Fran Silverman,

New York Times, (March 2, 2008)

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PloeS-6rnWFeWkGei6rbN52njx5VB_cVaggYzxI=>http://www.nytimes.com/

2008/03/02/nyregion/nyregionspecial2/02Rvaccine.ht ml?

_r=3 & pagewanted=1 & ref=nyregionspecial2 & oref=slog

in & oref=slogin

" The point of it is the parents should be in charge of the health

care needs of their children, " said Drumright, whose daughter is 8

and sons are 6 and 4. " It's not up to the state to dictate to parents

how they should make important health care decisions about their

children. " Sen. Loudon, R-Chesterfield, said he's considering

backing a proposal for a personal exemption. He has headed similar

efforts in the past, most recently in 2003. " I am always open to it, "

Loudon said of the idea of a personal exemption. " I think when a

parent does their diligence and has cause for alarm, they should have

the authority over government to control the health of their

children. " ......Missouri parents once had the right to exempt their

children from immunizations without needing to provide a reason. But

the law changed in 1992, and now parents can only opt out of their

kids' shots for religious or medical reasons..... " As more and more

vaccines are being added to the list, that is where you're getting

some pushback by parents, and legitimately so, " said Barbara Loe

Fisher, co-founder and president of the National Vaccine Information

Center, a vaccine safety watchdog agency in Vienna, Va. She said

parents are feeling pressured and powerless with all the vaccine

mandates. " The one- size-fits all approach to vaccinations ... is

simply not medically responsible, " Fisher said. " Parents have to be

given more flexibility. " - Andale Gross, Associated Press (February 29, 2008)

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w

s/stories.nsf/missouristatenews/story/6B1F6136D15D

8F1F862573FF00201C8D?OpenDocument

" Tyler's father, Holzinger, said, " After his 2-year-old

vaccinations, he became less verbal; eye contact ceased. He started

swaying, head-butting, doing a lot of these autistic

characteristics. " Tyler's parents and 200 others are active in an

online support group backing a bill giving Mississippi parents the

choice to not have all vaccines....Kellie Bischoff, president of the

support group, said, " Well, that's a scary thought, but if you look at

the other 48 states with nonmedical exemptions, it really is not an

issue. They do not have outbreaks. " Just like the other 48 states,

the support group wants religious and philosophical exemptions added

to the bill. Mississippi and West Virginia are the only states

without the exemptions. Even though it's risky, the support group

president stopped vaccinating her oldest daughter, Emma, at 2 years

old because she had seizures. Her youngest, 2- year-old Addie, hasn't

been vaccinated yet. Bischoff said, " If something were to happen and

there were a serious vaccine reaction, the parent is ultimately

responsible for taking care of this child, not the doctors, not the

state, not the school board. " - WAPT-TV (ABC affiliate in ,

MS) (February 11,

2008)<http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001BItfCW6xvyLpmgvcvIHbDdFzloScb0h5Ioq9eZAtWJJoinh\

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Mc for The New York Times

SECOND THOUGHTS: Polatsek, of Trumbull, Conn., stopped allowing

vaccinations for her children, Coby and Sophie, after Sophie was

found to have autism.

More Families Are Shunning Inoculations

The New York Times

March 2, 2008

by Fran Silverman

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AS states move to require more vaccines for school- age children, an

increasing number of parents are saying no to some of the

inoculations. They are seeking exemptions from the state in growing

numbers, citing religious reasons or saying that they believe the

vaccines will do more harm than good.

This fall state lawmakers in New Jersey approved a requirement for

flu and pneumonia shots for preschoolers, and two other shots - one

for meningitis, and a booster against tetanus, diphtheria and

pertussis for sixth graders. Connecticut health officials are

considering requiring the diphtheria, pertussis and tetanus booster,

and a chicken pox and mumps booster for school-age children and a flu

and Hepatitis A shot for children entering preschools. In January,

New York started requiring a pneumonia vaccine for preschool children

in day care and the DPT booster shot for sixth graders and is

considering requiring flu shots for preschoolers in day care.

" With the sheer number of vaccinations recommended there is more of a

backlash, more parents with questions, " said Mick Bolduc,

epidemiologist for the Connecticut Department of Health's immunization program.

The resistance of some parents persists despite the overwhelming

consensus among scientists and health officials that vaccines are

essential for public health and that they do not cause conditions like autism.

Last week, in fact, an advisory panel for the Centers for Disease

Control and Prevention said that all children ages 6 months to 18

years should receive an annual influenza shot. Flu has been

widespread in almost all states this year.

Currently, flu shots are recommended for children from 6 months to

about 5 years.

A pediatrician, Leo Distefano, of West Hartford, Conn., who is a

member of the state's chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics,

said women were asking about vaccines before they even gave birth.

" In almost every prenatal visit, it's brought up, " he said. " There's

more and more of a consumer mentality. People are really cautious

about just sticking with the routine schedule. "

Silvan, 37, a hospice minister and social worker from

Stamford, Conn., refused vaccines for her infant son at the hospital

shortly after she gave birth last year, out of concern for his

health. " I'm not trying to be extreme and say no vaccines, " she said.

" I appreciate that we don't have polio in this country because of the

vaccines. But it should be our personal choice. "

New York, New Jersey and Connecticut allow for medical and religious

exemptions, but the requirements for such exemptions differ in each

state. In New York, individual school districts decide on exemptions,

and how vigorously school officials question parents varies. In

Connecticut and New Jersey, residents need only fill out a form for

religious waivers. In all three states, medical exemptions require

notes from doctors.

Some parents say that either exemption can be hard to obtain

regardless of state regulations. Lawmakers in New York and New Jersey

have introduced legislation to add a " conscientious objector "

exemption to give parents more alternatives if they want to opt out

of vaccines for their children. Nineteen states already have such laws.

Less than one percent of school-age children in each state have

exemptions from vaccines, but the numbers are going up. In

Connecticut, 904 preschool and school-age children had either

religious or medical exemptions in 2006, up from 845 in 2005.

In New York 3,006 students entering pre-K, kindergarten and grades

one through 12 received religious exemptions and 971 medical

exemptions, which is almost double the percent of the school-age

population with exemptions in 1999. In New Jersey in 2006, 1,474

children received waivers for religious reasons and 449 for medical,

from 242 religious and 485 medical waivers in 1990.

SOME of the resistance to vaccines comes from parents who believe

there is a link between a vaccine preservative called thimerosal and

autism despite scientific studies that have failed to show any causal

link between the two. The studies have been conducted by major health

organizations like the Centers for Disease Control, the Food and Drug

Administration, the Institute of Medicine and the World Health Organization.

A study published in November by the Centers for Disease Control

showed that death rates for 13 diseases that can be prevented by

childhood vaccinations are at an all-time low in the United States,

showing the value of a regular program of vaccinations to the public

good, doctors from the center said.

" We realize parents are going to have concerns, and rightly so, " Mr.

Bolduc from Connecticut's health department said. " But we feel very

strongly in following the national recommended schedule. The risks

from vaccines are outweighed by the benefits. "

Nevertheless, some parents say they want to make their own decisions

for their children.

Polatsek, of Trumbull, Conn., stopped allowing vaccinations for

both her children after autism was diagnosed in her daughter, Sophie,

at age 4. Ms. Polatsek said she was always uncomfortable with the

inoculations and had insisted the pediatrician spread out the shots.

She said she wasn't aware when her children were infants that she

could seek a religious or medical waiver.

" They give you sheets at the pediatrician's office about the

vaccines, but they don't tell you that you can choose not to

vaccinate, " Ms. Polatsek said. " I had to learn through other people

about the exemptions. "

Rita M. Palma, of Bayport, N.Y., sought a religious exemption from

vaccines for her three sons but was turned down after a hearing with

school officials. She said she had become increasingly uncomfortable

with the vaccines the boys were getting.

" About two years ago I hit a wall with it, " she said. " I said I was

going to listen to my inner voice. The whole vaccination process is

based on fear of getting diseases but I would rather put my faith in

God to heal diseases. "

After submitting a written request for a religious waiver, she was

questioned at a two-hour hearing by the lawyer for the

Bayport-Bluepoint School District and turned down last February by

the school board. The New York Civil Liberties Union is now pursuing her case.

" It is unbelievably traumatic to have your religious convictions

questioned, " Mrs. Palma said. " For schools to be in the religious

sincerity business is just outrageous. "

Sue , co-founder of the New Jersey Alliance for Informed

Choice in Vaccination, said parents often face a variety of

roadblocks when seeking vaccine exemptions in the state.

" We see schools decline letters, or tell parents that clergy must

write letters, " she said. " Parents are being harassed and being asked

to do things above and beyond the law. "

Assemblywoman Charlotte Vandervalk, a Republican from Bergen County,

who introduced a conscientious exemption bill for vaccines, said

parents shouldn't have the burden of proving a religious or medical

reason to refuse vaccines.

" This is America; you don't force it on everybody, " Ms. Vandervalk said.

__________________________________________

Some want personal vaccine exemption restored in MO

Associated Press (St. Louis Post-Dispatch)

February 29, 2008

by Andale Gross

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KANSAS CITY - Darrel Drumright has worked in the health care field

for 15 years, but he doesn't trust immunizations.

So for years, the Kansas City chiropractor and father of three has

chosen not to vaccinate his children. His reason - on paper anyway -

is religion. His family is Catholic, so they claim a religious

exemption, which allows the kids to skip their shots.

But what Drumright really wants is to tell the truth: He and his wife

are skeptical about vaccines and feel the shots required for

childhood diseases such as measles and chickenpox could cause more

harm than good.

At a time when more parents are using religious exemptions to opt out

of getting their children vaccinated, he and others want Missouri to

go back to allowing parents who don't want to immunize their

school-age children to do so without having to give a reason.

Drumright, 45, said he and others are pushing for a personal

exemption - also known as a philosophical or conscientious exemption

- this legislative session. They have been talking to legislators

about the issue, hoping to spark support.

" The point of it is the parents should be in charge of the health

care needs of their children, " said Drumright, whose daughter is 8

and sons are 6 and 4. " It's not up to the state to dictate to parents

how they should make important health care decisions about their children. "

Sen. Loudon, R-Chesterfield, said he's considering backing a

proposal for a personal exemption. He has headed similar efforts in

the past, most recently in 2003.

" I am always open to it, " Loudon said. " I think when a parent does

their diligence and has cause for alarm, they should have the

authority over government to control the health of their children. "

Earlier this month, Loudon refiled a bill that he said should help

determine the level of support among legislators for a personal exemption.

Loudon's bill deals with the issue of vaccine control, but as it

relates to lawmakers, not parents. It seeks to give the Legislature

full control over mandating new vaccines. Under the proposal, state

health officials still would control how vaccines that are already

required are administered to children, but they could not add new

mandatory vaccines without legislative approval.

Although the deadline for filing legislation in the Senate has

passed, Loudon said he still would work with fellow legislators to

get a personal exemption bill filed in the House if his vaccine

control proposal is well-received. The chances of such a bill moving

through the Legislature, however, decrease the longer they wait to

get started.

Missouri parents once had the right to exempt their children from

immunizations without needing to provide a reason. But the law

changed in 1992, and now parents can only opt out of their kids'

shots for religious or medical reasons.

Drumright and other opponents of vaccines say medical exemptions can

be difficult to get a doctor to sign off on, and religious exemptions

put parents in an awkward position. They say parents might feel wrong

about giving religion - though parents in Missouri can cite religion

without having to declare a particular faith - as a reason if their

resistance to vaccines has nothing to do with their faith.

The Associated Press has found that a small but growing number of

parents around the country are claiming religious exemptions to avoid

vaccinating their children when the real reason may be skepticism of

the shots or concern they can cause other illnesses.

" While you can never guarantee that immunizations will not cause a

problem, they are extremely safe. But the diseases are not, " said Sue

Denny, a spokeswoman with the Missouri Department of Health and

Senior Services. " It's in the best interest of maintaining the health

of not only schoolchildren but the rest of the population to have a

high immunization rate. "

Denny said the health department has only seen a slight increase in

the number of parents using the religious exemption in recent school

years, while the number using the medical exemption has stayed about the same.

State health department records show that about 4,700 religious

exemptions and more than 1,500 medical exemptions were claimed for

Missouri students during the 2006-2007 school year, the most recent

year for which data is available.

In 15 years since Missouri's vaccine exemption law changed, there

have been moves to restore it but none were successful. Vaccine

critics, both locally and nationally, think an exemption proposal

could have a chance now.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and an AP

survey of state health departments, 20 states allow parents to cite

personal or philosophical reasons for opting out of their children's

immunizations. The most recent to add a personal exemption was Texas in 2003.

" As more and more vaccines are being added to the list, that is where

you're getting some pushback by parents, and legitimately so, " said

Barbara Loe Fisher, co-founder and president of the National Vaccine

Information Center, a vaccine safety watchdog agency in Vienna, Va.

She said parents are feeling pressured and powerless with all the

vaccine mandates.

" The one-size-fits-all approach to vaccinations ... is simply not

medically responsible, " Fisher said. " Parents have to be given more

flexibility. "

Koreen Bowers, a mother of three from St. Louis, said she's wrestling

with whether she will claim a religious exemption to avoid certain

vaccines for her oldest child, who starts kindergarten next school

year. She wishes Missouri had a philosophical exemption like her home

state, Minnesota.

" I think it just puts a little more control in the hands of concerned

parents, " said Bowers, 39, a financial services worker. " It's not

just about being anti- vaccine. It's about allowing parents to be a

little more selective and be able to make an informed decision. "

Drumright said parents often are not aware they have options. They go

with the notion that vaccines are mandatory and don't think to

question it, he said.

" We need an exemption where the parent can say 'I'm an informed

consumer' and 'No, thank you,' " Drumright said.

__________________________________________

Parents Contest Mandatory Vaccinations

WAPT-TV (ABC)

February 11, 2008

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, Miss -- Six year old Tyler has Asperger's syndrome, a highly

functioning form of autism.

At 2 years old, Tyler made eye contact and talked quite a bit.

Tyler's father, Holzinger, said, " After his 2- year-old

vaccinations, he became less verbal; eye contact ceased. He started

swaying, head-butting, doing a lot of these autistic characteristics. "

Tyler's parents and 200 others are active in an online support group

backing a bill giving Mississippi parents the choice to not have all

vaccines. Some parents want to limit how many shots kids get at one

time -- because seizures are a possible side effect.

Others are convinced the shots cause autism or make the symptoms worse.

The CDC and FDA point out there's no research of a connection, but

Sen. Fillingane said concerned parents convinced him to write

new bill. It says if any U.S. doctor believes vaccines may harm a

child, he or she can write a medical exemption.

Fillingane said, " Then they can carry it with them when they enroll

their children in school and their children won't be kicked out of

public schools, as they are now currently if they don't have the full

regimens of the vaccinations. "

The health department said 16 vaccines against diseases like chicken

pox and polio are needed before a child attends public school.

The state's division of autism director backs the bill and said

doctors along with parents should make medical decisions for

children. Dr. Mark Yeager, director of the Autism Spectrum Disorders

division, said, " I'm in the field, of autism and I can tell you I

encounter a lot of people who are frightened, frightened beyond any

discussion on how their children are gonna develop or not develop. "

Opponents like UMC pediatrician Sorey said kids who are not

vaccinated put the public, especially school-age children, at risk.

He believes a decrease in vaccinations led to at least 140 whooping

cough cases last summer and one death. Sorey said, " If you decrease

the number of children vaccinated, sooner or later Mother Nature is

gonna beat your brains out with these same old- fashioned diseases

we've always had. "

Kellie Bischoff, president of the support group, said, " Well, that's a

scary thought, but if you look at the other 48 states with nonmedical

exemptions, it really is not an issue. They do not have outbreaks. "

Just like the other 48 states, the support group wants religious and

philosophical exemptions added to the bill. Mississippi and West

Virginia are the only states without the exemptions. Even though it's

risky, the support group president stopped vaccinating her oldest

daughter, Emma, at 2 years old because she had seizures. Her

youngest, 2-year-old Addie, hasn't been vaccinated yet.

Bischoff said, " If something were to happen and there were a serious

vaccine reaction, the parent is ultimately responsible for taking

care of this child, not the doctors, not the state, not the school board. "

Tyler's parents are still debating about his 10- month-old sister,

Eve, who's had only one vaccination. They hope the bill will give

them options with her that they didn't have with Tyler. Holzinger

said, " I should be able to choose if my daughter gets these vaccines,

especially when I've seen what they do to my son. "

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Sheri Nakken, former R.N., MA, Hahnemannian Homeopath

Vaccination Information & Choice Network, Nevada City CA & Wales UK

Vaccines - http://www.wellwithin1.com/vaccine.htm Vaccine Dangers &

Childhood Disease & Homeopathy Email classes start in March