I have stayed out of the vaccine debate, until now… no longer! This issue is too important not to address.
No matter how you feel about vaccinations, giving up your right to choose is one of the craziest things we could ever do.
Bill 277 will mandate vaccinations for all Californian children and, if passed, is said to be going into effect in Jan 2016. Whatever your stance is on vaccinating your own kids, please deeply consider the impact of giving up your future right to choose.
The CA Vaccine Schedule includes 49 doses of 14 vaccinations to children under the age of 6. There are +- 300 vaccinations in the pipeline. It terrifies me to think that I will no longer have the right to refuse any of these if the CDC decides to put them on the schedule.
To me, no matter how you feel about vaccinations, no matter where you stand in this vaccination debate, giving up your future right to choose MUST scare you.
Yes, I have vaccinated my children, but you’d be damned right I’ve signed the petition AGAINST this bill. I want the right to choose what is injected into my children in the future. More importantly, I want the right to refuse.
The vaccine industry is worth an estimated 24 Billion dollars a year and growing rapidly. There’s no doubt in my mind that vaccines have saved millions of lives. But, it’s important for us to acknowledge that vaccines are big business for pharmaceutical companies, with big financial rewards. And yet, in America, vaccine manufactures have no liability whatsoever when it comes to vaccine injuries. Not even if they (hypothetically) produce and distribute a vaccine they know to be unsafe… not even then, are they liable for any damages caused. This does not sit well with me.
I definitely don’t advocate for an end to vaccines but I FOR SURE want to protect my right to abstain from a vaccination in the future.
Don’t you?
Fight for your right to choose by signing this petition too : https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/prohibit-any-laws-mandating-force-and-requirement-vaccinations-any-kind/HW1B3YKz
Please, share this petition with anyone and everyone who will benefit from protecting their right to choose.
With deep respect for everyone’s personal choices in this matter and knowing that we all love our children,
Donni
10 Responses
Thank you for the information, Donni. And this was very well put.
Blessings,
Tamara
I cannot believe how way have become rabid animals about vaccines since the 100+ person “outbreak” of measles. Yes, I vaccinated my kids and myself for everything. Yes, my brother almost died of chicken pox and i grew up hearing horror stories about measles and mumps. Yes, I have an AI disease that requires me to take immune suppressants, thereby making me more susceptible to dying from these diseases. Does any of that give me the right to tell other people that they have to vaccinate their children? Not in my book! Not to mention, all these people frothing at the mouth about vaccine should just shut their traps unless they have had their titers checked. Otherwise, they are big old hypocrites. Many adults do not actually have immunity to measles, due to the fact that need a booster shot, either because they didn’t receive enough vaccinations when they were young or because their immunity just wore off. I just read one lady’s comment on another post where she wanted to take all the anti-vaxers and dump them and their kids on an island and then drop bombs of measles, mumps, rubella, etc. on the island. I mean, how can someone have so much hatred against people for trying to be good and informed parents? And wouldn’t it be ironic if this particular woman actually needed a booster shot herself? I’d rather be around anti-vaxers who have taken the time and energy to research the issue than hear scary people like that who just absorb the status quo without questioning authority. Not to mention, not all anti-vaxers are alike. Some schedule the shots out over time. Some vaccinate for some diseases and not others. And recently I was told by one anti-vaxer that she would have immunized against all the diseases in the MMR, if each vaccine was offered separately, so her child didn’t have to get them all at once, but the vaccine is only offered as a combo.
Thank you Donni for this post. I don’t know where I stand when it comes to vaccines, but I definitely know where I stand when it comes to freedoms. I am not ok with ANYONE telling me what I must do to/for my children or myself! Where does the loss of personal freedoms end? We have a similar bill coming up in Oregon and I hope that the people we’ve elected to govern us remember what Americans generally hold above all else- freedom to choose.
I agree with you. I have vaccinated my children by choice and at a pace I felt comfortable with. I think it would be dangerous to allow the CDC and the vaccine industry to have control over what is required for all children and to take away the ability for families to choose.
Well said!
Sorry, just NO. Herd immunity is a real thing, and the lack of it will risk the lifes of children, who – for medical reasons for example – can’t be vaccinated. This is not – and will never be – a personal decision.
Birte,
Who will decide which children can’t be vaccinated because of medical reasons? Who will make this list? My child is compromised with an auto-immune disease, but he is not “sick enough” to get an official medical exemption. My family will have to deal with side effects from a vaccine injury, not you, not the “herd.” My body belongs to me. My child’s body belongs to him, not the herd.
Birte, I get the herd immunity, and as I mentioned before, I and my children are fully vaccinated, but I would never force other people to vaccinate their children. Due to my being on immune suppresants, I’m more likely to die if I contract one of the diseases vaccines are made for. I don’t want to die that way, but I would rather die that way than live knowing I forced someone else to do something they felt was wrong just. Of course this whole debate has made me question other regulations that are part of our lives that I never questioned before (like of course children should be in car seats, why not have a law for that? I never thought about it, but then it was like well okay, lets say that have to be in them until their four because that’s safer, then oh wait, it’s actually better if they stay in them until their eight, what happens if they realize that even adults are safer in car seats???). The question is where do we draw the line on regulations? I don’t know… Our country is not and never has been a socialist country, our founding fathers valued freedom above all else, so I find that I no longer am sure of my political stance on much of anything. Once you take away one freedom, why not take away another, and oh that one too, and wait, why should people be free to do that…. And no, I am not and never will be a Republican, so this isn’t about politics.
I think if you homeschool and te kids are not around many other children it is most likely fine. However I don’t think it would be a good idea to send an unvaccinated child to a public school or a daycare full of kids. My first child we delayed until the summer before K. The next we spaced them out on the Dr Seas schedule. My third baby we get them ASAP because her brothers attend public school and she is often exposed to other kids. I don’t think the government should require all children get vaccinated, but to prevent a true epidemic of disease public schools should require it.
Thank you for sharing this, Donni! Signed and agree with everything you say.