OT: Barbara Loe Fisher/NVIC/Vaccinating Kids in land

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NVIC E-news

www.nvic.org<http://www.nvic.org/>

www.vaccineawakening.blogspot.com<http://www.vaccineawakening.blogspot.com/>

Police with Dogs:

Vaccinating Kids in land

by Barbara Loe Fisher

" In Germany, they came first for the Communists, and I didn't speak up because I

wasn't a Communist. Then they came for the Jews, and I didn't speak up because I

wasn't a Jew. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I didn't speak up

because I wasn't a trade unionist. Then they came for the Catholics, and I

didn't speak up because I was a Protestant. Then they came for me, and by that

time no one was left to speak up. " - Niemueller

I watched them bundled up against the cold winter air on Saturday, November 17,

2007, with their children and the letter from the State of land threatening

them with imprisonment or fines of $50 a day for failing to show proof their

children had gotten a chickenpox or hepatitis B shot. Confused, angry or scared

but mostly resigned, they were working mothers and fathers trudging toward the

courthouse to face the Judge ordering them to get vaccinated or go to jail.

Patrolling the scene was a SWAT team of policemen with dogs.

There were a few vaccine safety and informed consent advocates who showed up to

witness what happened at the Prince 's County Courthouse, among them

Washington D.C. Attorney Jim Moody and autism activist Kelli Ann , of

SAFEMINDS and Frohman, representing the American Association of

Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS) http://www.aapsonline.org/press/nr-11-16- 07.php

as well as several Moms with children who developed autism after vaccination.

The U.S. media turned out but they were kept behind barricades and denied access

into the building, as were the advocates and other members of the general

public. There was no public oversight on what was happening to the parents and

children inside.

I listened to or spoke with several mothers leaving the building with their

children and learned the sad truth about what was happening behind the closely

guarded, closed doors of the Courthouse. The parents were not being asked

questions about their child's medical history or whether the children had

experienced health problems after previous vaccinations. The parents were not

being given information about vaccine side effects or how to monitor their

children for signs of vaccine reactions. They were not given forms for religious

and medical exemptions to vaccination allowed in land (see the video of my

debate on CNN the day before with Vanderbilt's Bill Schaffner, M.D. plus a video

of a Saturday CNN interview with Jim Moody

http://www.cnn.com/20 07/US/11/17/maryland.vaccines/index.html#cnnSTCTe xt)

Apparently, the children were being re-vaccinated with not just hepatitis B and

chicken pox vaccines, the two new vaccines added to the land school

requirement list, but also with other required vaccines for which the public

school system could find no record. One mother told me her children were up-

to-date on their shots but the school system lost the records and she had to

give her children all the required vaccines on the spot or face jail or fines.

My son, who became learning disabled after suffering a serious reaction

to a fourth DPT shot in 1980, traveled with me to land carrying a camera.

After growing up watching his Mom work to change one-size-fits-all vaccine

policies that were responsible for his vaccine reaction, recently decided

he wants to help NVIC put a face on what it means to be vaccine injured in

America and what it means when Americans do not have the right to freely

exercise informed consent to vaccination.

set up his camera as I talked with a mother hundreds of yards from the

front of the Courthouse door. I was about 12 inches inside a row of large cement

balls that apparently were erected as a barrier to prevent terrorist attacks. I

did not know I wasn't supposed to be talking with this Mom inside the barrier.

She was telling me about how she wasn't given any information about vaccines

before her children were injected with three vaccines.

All of a sudden, out of the corner of my eye I saw an armed guard with a dog

emerge from the Courthouse and walk toward us. I got a sick feeling in the pit

of my stomach. It was the dread that any citizen of any country in any century

has ever felt when an armed guard with a dog starts advancing. As if we were

common criminals or terrorists, he yelled and gestured to us to move behind the

stones.

We moved without a word. And the sick feeling in the pit of my stomach told me

we were being shown the power of the State wielded by that armed guard with the

dog, just as parents inside the Courthouse were being shown the power of the

State wielded by doctors with syringes.

There has been talk this past week about whether or not U.S. vaccine laws are,

indeed, laws or whether they are simply recommendations that do not have the

force of law behind them. Because the enactment of public health laws was not

defined in the U.S. Constitution as a federal activity, in 1905 the U.S. Supreme

Court affirmed the power of the states to pass public health laws requiring

citizens to be vaccinated or re-vaccinated.

http://biotech.law.lsu.edu/c

ases/vaccines/son_v_Massachusetts.htm<about:8o3MgOr>

There is now more than 100 years of case law reinforcing the U.S. Supreme Court

decision and the right of states to exercise police power to enforce vaccine

laws. The post-911 enactment of the Homeland Security Law, the Model State

Health Emergency Powers Act and Bioshield I and II makes it clear that the State

will use police power to enforce quarantine or vaccination whenever the State

chooses to wield that power. http://www.nvic.org/2005_11-

15_NVIC_Sen%20Burr_BioShield% 202_v7.pdf<about:8o3MgOr>

The method of punishment for not obeying U.S. state vaccine laws is up to the

state legislatures which make the laws. Today, many state legislatures have

turned over vaccine law-making to unelected government health and education

officials, who may enlist state attorneys and judges in the court system to

enforce punishments. One of the punishments which many states have chosen when

children have not received all state mandated vaccines is to bar children from

attending school unless they file and the State approves exemptions to

vaccination outlined by the State.

The National Vaccine Information Center receives calls and emails every week

from parents who are being harrassed by government officials about filing a

religious exemption to vaccination or cannot find a doctor to write a medical

exemption. land has a very strictly worded religious exemption that requires

the parent to be opposed to all vaccines in order to obtain it.

Those parents, who do not vaccinate their children and do not either make

arrangements with the State to homeschool them or successfully file a

state-approved exemption, are in violation of another state law: truancy laws.

Failure to send your child to school in land between the ages of 5 and 16 is

a misdemeanor punishable by fines and jail time or both. This is the law which

the land government officials moved to enforce when they enlisted the help

of State's Attorney Glenn Ivey (D) and Judge C. Philip Nichols to turn parents

of unvaccinated children into criminals.

In one news report, Judge Nichols was quoted as observing that the children

looked unhappy waiting in line for their vaccinations. He is quoted as saying

" It's cute. It looks like their parents are dragging them to church. "

The big difference between being dragged into a Courthouse to get vaccinated and

being dragged to church is that an hour of prayer rarely results in catastrophic

brain injury or death. I still wonder how many of those children, who were

injected with multiple vaccines in the Courthouse, are having vaccine reactions

today. Their parents, many of whom are uninformed about how to recognize vaccine

reactions, will never know what happened to their children if they regress into

chronic poor health after the shots they were forced to get on Saturday.

We know that attacks on the religious and philosophical exemptions to

vaccination in America are on the increase and are being led by vaccine patent

holders like Offit, M.D. and others who want to force vaccination.

http://vaccineawa kening.blogspot.com/search? q=attacks+on+vaccine+exemptions.

In 1996, a sixteen year old Milwaukee boy was handcuffed, stripped and jailed

overnight because he hadn't shown public school or county health authorities

proof that he had gotten a second MMR shot. In 1997, I made a presentation to

the National Vaccine Advisory Committee defending the moral right to exercise a

conscientious belief exemption to vaccination and predicting what would happen

if Americans did not win that freedom.

http://www.nvic.org/Loe_Fisher/blfstmt050297.htm<about:uxfeTy2WlNOkfSfePsFyjSrWk\

Jk8_J6QaViF8IPso2Vr97jmp8=>

What happened in land this weekend is a final wake-up call for America.

Dozens of new vaccines are being rushed to market in the next decade and most

will target children and adults for mandated use. Limiting the power of the

State to force vaccination is all that stands between the people and tyranny.

There is only one way we will be free in the future: the laws must be changed so

that every state allows a conscientious belief exemption to vaccination. Parents

in Texas, after working with Parents Requesting Open Vaccine Education (PROVE)

to educate the Texas legislature about the need for a conscientious belief

exemption, got that exemption added in 2004

(www.vaccineinfo.net<about:aLgmLqNPQ8tVbjFEGICCymrZ5MXDBBFyrb-HjhGKxWmpVk-MId9Pr\

XxmH06RW_U6S1cQjqvYLnC2vv_e8Gua4Ajk0_IDN-goQ==> ). NVIC provided information and

strategic support for PROVE's seven year effort to secure strong informed

consent and privacy protections in Texas vaccine laws but it was Dawn

, Rex and the people of Texas who got the job done.

If you want to work to educate your community and elected officials about

vaccination and informed consent rights, contact the National Vaccine

Information Center at NVICinfo@.... For more information about NVIC's 25

years of advocacy work and to learn more about preventing vaccine reactions go

to www.nvic.org. Please donate generously to this non-profit educational public

service organization working to protect your freedom to choose the kind of

health care you want for yourself and your family, including the freedom to

choose which vaccines to use.

A line forms outside Prince s County Circuit Court in Upper Marlboro,

land, Saturday, Nov. 17, 2007.

Vaccines or else: Parents blast order for schoolchildren

CNN

November 17, 2007

Click here for the URL:<about:ÕçPÕêl>

UPPER MARLBORO, land (CNN) -- A crowd of frustrated parents gathered on a

chilly Saturday morning outside Prince 's County Circuit Court to comply

with an order from the school system to have their children vaccinated -- or

else.

Prince 's County State's Attorney Glenn Ivey, whose office began the

effort, was at the courthouse to answer questions.

Judge C. Philip Nichols, who signed the letters threatening parents with jail or

fines, said he felt the tactic worked.

" We got a thousand kids back in school just by sending one letter, " he said.

Nichols ordered parents to come to court Saturday to either immunize the

children on the spot, or to provide proof that they already had their shots,

according to The Associated Press.

Families who failed to comply could face 10 to 30 days in jail.

" [The schools] started out with phone calls, even home visits, and this became a

last resort for parents who wouldn't comply one way or another, " Ivey said.

All states require school-age children to be immunized against diseases such as

mumps, measles and polio. But the parents said they objected to the heavy-handed

way Ivey has handled the issue.

Families could opt out of the required shots by providing medical or religious

waivers. Citing cases of serious adverse reactions, some parents worry about the

safety of vaccines.

" The patient should have a choice. I just don't think Big Brother should have

that much power, " said Donna Hurlock, a physician and activist concerned about

parental rights and privacy issues. Video Watch experts with opposing views

debate mandatory vaccinations »

Jim Moody was among the parents protesting the policy.

" There are serious considerations for safety that need to be addressed before

compelling people to get vaccines, " he said. Video Watch why parents are upset

»

Public health officials said the benefits of vaccinations against childhood

diseases outweigh the risks.

Some parents who received letters saying they were not in compliance with the

vaccination mandate complained that it was the fault of the school system, which

they described as disorganized.

" It was the school's mistake. [My daughter] didn't have documentation. This is

the second or third time we had to redo her again because her shot records got

misplaced, " Ron Brooking told CNN.

Authorities said they will decide in the next few days what to do with families

who refused to obey the vaccination order.

Ivey was still mulling whether to prosecute parents not in compliance.

" We have to sit down with school and health services, " he told the AP. " We

haven't ruled anything out. We need to figure out where we stand. "

The parents of about 1,700 children received letters from Ivey reminding them of

the consequences for not complying, said White, spokesman for Prince

's County Public Schools.

That number was down to 1,111 by Thursday, and was reduced to 939 children by

Saturday evening, he said.

White said that number was the lowest since since a law requiring additional

vaccinations went into effect January 1.

But " obviously, we still have some more work to do, " he told the AP.

101 vaccinations were administered at the courthouse and 71 records were

updated, he said.

Md. schools get tough on vaccinations

Associated Press Friday, November 15, 2007

by Manning

Click here for the URL:<about:@≥ˇ>

Two months into the school year, more than 2,000 students in this suburban

county outside the nation's capital had yet to get the shots they needed to

attend class. So the school system decided it was through playing nice.

Parents in Prince 's County have been ordered to appear at a special court

hearing Saturday where they will be given a choice: Get their children

vaccinated on the spot or risk up to 10 days in jail and fines.

It is one of the strongest efforts made by a U.S. school system to ensure its

youngsters receive their shots.

Prince 's County school officials and prosecutors said parents have been

duly warned about the need for vaccinations over the past year. They said the

goal isn't to throw parents in jail but to protect public health and get kids

who have been barred from school back to class.

" How can you in good conscience allow your child to miss school and their

education for no particular reason? " said White, spokesman for the

132,000-student school system.

At the courthouse, the health department will have a makeshift clinic to

administer vaccines. Parents will be given the chance to offer the judge an

excuse for why they didn't get their kids vaccinated. Under land law,

parents can obtain exemptions for religious or medical reasons.

Those who fail to show up - and those who fail to offer a valid excuse and still

refuse the shots - could be prosecuted under truancy laws and face possible jail

time and fines of $50 per day.

Prosecutors do not expect to actually charge anyone on Saturday.

" The message is get your kids vaccinated or get an exemption, " said Prince

's County State's Attorney Glenn Ivey. " You can't just sit on the fence. "

Barbara Loe Fisher, head of National Vaccine Information Center, a vaccine

skeptic group, complained: " It is terrorizing parents. When you have the threat

of going to jail, it is hard to make an informed decision. "

Even the judge who opened his court is somewhat skeptical about hauling parents

into court. Missouri, administrative judge for the county circuit court,

agreed to the Saturday session and said it would probably prod some parents to

comply. But the problem " may have been ratcheted up to a level it should not

have been at this time. "

School officials said that it is not clear why parents are not complying, but

that some may have religious or medical objections, while others may have failed

to turn in the paperwork, or their kids' addresses were outdated.

The prospect of stiff penalties appears to have worked already. Last week, when

the court notices were sent to parents, 2,300 students had not been properly

immunized. As of Friday afternoon, only about 1,100 remained on the list.

land, like all states, requires children to be immunized against several

childhood illnesses, including polio, mumps and measles. In recent years, it has

required that students up to high-school age be vaccinated against hepatitis B

and chicken pox.

After that, thousands of students - most of them high schoolers - were found to

lack the required immunizations. Parents were sent letters and visited at home,

and the school system even offered free vaccinations.

" Once the word gets out, it will definitely work, " Bob Ross, head of the

parent-teachers association at Surrattsville High School in Clinton, said of the

new get-tough approach. " Parents are going to have to set aside some time.

Parents have a responsibility to help protect the public health. "

Parents Ordered to Court for Kids' Shots

The Sentinel

November 17, 2007

by Barakat

UPPER MARLBORO, Md. - Hundreds of grumbling parents facing a threat of jail

lined up at a courthouse Saturday to either prove that their school-age kids

already had their required vaccinations or see that the youngsters submitted to

the needle.

The get-tough policy in the Washington suburbs of Prince 's County was one

of the strongest efforts made by any U.S. school system to ensure its youngsters

receive their required immunizations.

Two months into the school year, school officials realized that more than 2,000

students in the county still didn't have the vaccinations they were supposed to

have before attending class.

So Circuit Court Judge C. Philip Nichols ordered parents in a letter to appear

at the courthouse Saturday and either get their children vaccinated on the spot

or risk up to 10 days in jail. They could also provide proof of vaccination or

an explanation why their kids didn't have them.

By about 8:30 a.m., the line of parents stretched outside the courthouse in the

county on the east side of Washington.

Many of them complained that their children already were properly immunized but

the school system had misplaced the records. They said efforts to get the

paperwork straightened out had been futile.

" It was very intimidating, " Territa Wooden of Largo said of the letter. She said

she presented the paperwork at the courthouse Saturday and resolved the matter.

" I could be home asleep. My son had his shots, " said Veinell Dickens of Upper

Marlboro, who also blamed errant paperwork.

Aloma of Fort Washington brought her children, Delontay and Taron, in

10th and 6th grade, for their hepatitis shots. She said she had been trying to

get the vaccinations for more than a month, since the school system sent a

warning letter. She had an appointment for Monday, but came to the courthouse to

be safe.

" It was very heavy handed, " she said of the county's action. " From that letter,

it sounded like they were going to start putting us in jail. "

School officials deemed the court action a success. School system spokesman

White said the number of children lacking vaccinations dropped from 2,300 at the

time the judge sent the letter to about 1,100 Friday. Hundreds more were

expected to be in compliance after Saturday's session.

Officials said they did not know how many students got shots Saturday and how

many merely had paperwork problems. It was also unclear how many claimed medical

or religious exemptions to the requirement.

White said the school system, with about 132,000 students, has been trying for

two years to get parents to comply with state law. That law allows children to

skip vaccines if they have a medical or religious exemption.

land, like all states, requires children to be immunized against several

childhood illnesses including polio, mumps and measles. In recent years, it also

has required that students up to high school age be vaccinated against hepatitis

B and chicken pox.

Nichols said nobody actually came before him Saturday, but he was there if any

parent asked to see him.

The judge noted the unhappy looks of some of the kids in line waiting for

vaccinations.

" It's cute. It looks like their parents are dragging them to church, " Nichols

said.

Any children who still lack immunizations could be expelled. Their parents could

then be brought up on truancy charges, which can result in a 10-day jail

sentence for a first offense and 30 days for a second.

Prince 's State's Attorney Glenn Ivey couldn't say Saturday whether he

would prosecute parents who fail to comply.

" We have to sit down with school and health services, " he said. " We haven't

ruled anything out. We need to figure out where we stand. "

Several organizations opposed to mass vaccinations demonstrated outside the

courthouse. While the medical consensus is that vaccines are safe and effective,

some people blame immunizations for a rise in autism and other medical problems.

" People should have a choice " in getting their children immunized, said

Frohman, representing a physicians' group opposed to vaccines.

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

National Vaccine Information Center

email: news@...

voice: 703-938-dpt3

web: http://www.nvic.org

NVIC E-News is a free service of the National Vaccine Information Center and is

supported through membership donations.

NVIC is funded through the financial support of its members and does not receive

any government subsidies. Barbara Loe Fisher, President and Co- founder.

Learn more about vaccines, diseases and how to protect your informed consent

rights at www.nvic.org<about:-9Md4AZyd2058GWbpY=>

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