The vaccine industry went home with its tail between its legs after suffering an enormous and embarrassing defeat at the hands of the Vermont legislature last week.
The well monied effort by Big Pharma went down in flames with the defeat of S 199 which would have eliminated the right of Vermont parents to refuse vaccinations based on philosophical reasons.
S 199 was introduced by State Senator Bill Mullin who just happens to be the Vermont chairperson for the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). ALEC is a lobbying organization that works for the benefit of Big Business that provides it with its generous funding.
A complaint was recently filed against ALEC by Common Cause charging that the lobbying organization is evading Federal tax law by posing as a tax exempt charity all the while spending millions of dollars each year lobbying for hundreds of bills in state legislatures all across the United States.
In keeping with the ALEC modus operandi when pushing pet legislation, S 199 passed with dizzying speed in the Vermont Senate, but by the time it got to the Vermont House, parents had organized and started to fight back hard.
Of grave concern was the aggressive lobbying by Dr. Harry Chen MD, the Commissioner of the Vermont Department of Health Services, who had the audacity to suggest that the very reason the philosophical exemption should be eliminated was because of increasing numbers of parents exercising their philosophical right to vaccine refusal!
How’s that for warped logic?
Fortunately, freedom and common sense prevailed and by the time S 199 emerged from the Vermont House, the philosophical exemption remained intact. Parents will have to now submit letters of philosophical refusal each year and sign a statement that they realize that not vaccinating puts others at risk. Such measures are nothing but face saving compromise to allow the Vaccine Industry to slink away quietly, whimpering in defeat considering that the herd immunity argument by the vaccine industry is blatantly false.
Will the Vermont legislature have another go at eliminating the philosophical exemption next legislative session? Not likely, say S 199 activists, who promise heated efforts to unseat the bill’s sponsors so that they are not returned to office after the Fall elections.
Sarah, The Healthy Home Economist
Source: Huge Victory for Vaccine Rights in Vermont
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{ 60 comments… read them below or add one }
Congratulations to all the brave activists in Vermont who won this big one for all of us!
Thanks for writing this! It was quite a story here in Vermont, and far from over. Parents here are fully aware of the implications of the sign off, and didn’t at any point think it was a good idea. I hope that citizens in other states will also be able to have an impact – this is going to be an uphill battle for a long time.
I would have a problem signing something that says not vaccinating puts others at risk.
me too, that doesn’t even make sense!
I could not do that, either. It’s signing away to a complete lie – and it is also a legal documentation that can come back to haunt them. :/
Violet Persuasion\’s last post: Kefir Soup Recipe
We do not sign it either. If you go to a family doctor they do not make you sign a form for not vaccinating.
Kaley Wirthlin\’s last post: Homemade Natural Deodorant
Yes, they do make you sign a form for not vaccinating at a family doctor. We take our boys to a family MD instead of a ped, and if you do not vaccinate, you still have to sign the form. It may depend on the practice or state but most family MDs that I am aware of still have to do that.
“Parents will have to now submit letters of philosophical refusal each year and sign a statement that they realize that not vaccinating puts others at risk.”
When I lived in TX I had to deal with the bi-annual notarized opt out letter, but the signing a statement saying I realize I am putting others at risk, no way! Mark my words here – basically that is a signed admission of liability and they will try to use it in some manner to sue (or otherwise go after) the parents of non vax’d kids if say several cases of the measles broke out.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but I have read that you can cross out wording that is unacceptable to you and replace it with your own wording and them sign your name by it. There are several sites that offer tips and examples of how to do this. So, you can cross out the “not” in order to show you are of the opinion that “vaccinating puts others at risk.”
That’s what I was thinking. That you could cross out or reword it to say that you understand that they think you’re putting others at risk or that you’ve been warned that you’re putting others at risk.
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Hi Cara…. l would love to know if this is true. Sounds unbelievable but sometimes the unbelievable is true …. Do you have any links to sites because if this is true it would be great information to share with those who may be putting their homes at risk of a lawsuit and we all know how americans love lawsuits
I think this is wonderful…however, heard such things that signing a paper saying “you may put others at risk” could be used against a parent if DCF or other authorities were ever involved. Have also heard that it can be considered a form of child abuse also (for not vaxing). Any truth to this? It seems like we battle one war to be faced with another, in this messed up legal system.
I think we are over vaccinating our children but I also think a few are necessary. I really don’t want my child catching or dying from some of these diseases. I’d also be willing to bet that some diseases that we eradicated through vaccines will start showing their faces again. Also think there is a huge conspiracy theory with the pharm companies and the profits they get from vaccines given just like the meat industry and the USDA.
curious, which do you think are necessary? did you know that there is NO real evidence that vaccines ever eradicated disease? and did you know that when one of these outbreak news stories appears to “scare” the public, it has been later found but not reported that 80% of the individuals were fully vaccinated?
I know this will not be a popular opinion, but here goes.
First off, I am in the same camp as far as believing that there are way too many vaccines given to children, and at ages that are not necessarily..uh, wonderful. BUT, being a veterinarian and seeing the how much disease is truly prevented (certain vaccines only; ex parvovirus!!!), I have a hard time putting many eggs in the basket that claims there are not any human vaccines worth a crap. I find fault in the argument that solely because all vaccinations are not “proven” to lessen disease by a non-partisan study, that it means they don’t do just that. Some vaccinations are going to work due to the nature of the viral DNA (or RNA), and some are going to be less effective. Some vaccinations DO prevent morbidity and mortality, and some cause a higher risk themselves of morbidity than the disease itself.
Remember that the truth generally lies somewhere in the middle.
My dog got the parvo vaccine AND got parvo.
You don’t have to be a scientist to know something is funny.
Interestingly they are showing up more and more in a more virulent form and reportedly in larger numbers in the vaccinated. I think natural immunity – even from a mild case of the disease – is a more effective means of protection.
[retired RN that gave many immunization during my career, would have a problem giving the number that are now routine]
Shirley, THANK YOU FOR YOUR WORDS OF WISDOM! I have worked in healthcare for 28 years and I am sad for so many who refuse to look closer at what they are doing on a daily basis. The only bright spot? I DO see many are beginning to question! Yeah! I heard someone say, “The Truth sits quietly, waiting to be discovered.” So true! Thank you again for encouraging me and others in healthcare with your insights, from an insider who has been there and seen much! God bless! Texas Mom Oh, Hurrah for Vermont and those parents who did not back down!!!! Gives us all hope for our own state!
Eating quality, whole, nutrient dense food and avoiding the processed garbage is the way to clear thinking!!! You can’t have one without the other. I don’t know anyone who eats poorly who thinks straight.
Sarah, TheHealthyHomeEconomist\’s last post: Vaccine Rights Win Big in Vermont
Love your line …. I dont know anyone who eats poorly who thinks straight : )
I keep saying it all comes back to the SOIL …. !
Vermont sounds very AWAKE … l take my hat off to the people of this state for thinking and not falling for the propaganda that is spewed out in the media … my guess is the Soil is special in Vermont : )
If your child had never received any vaccines, that child stands a greater chance of not having complications with any disease. Vaccines cause your body to have an allergic reaction to the proteins in them (intact proteins are never supposed to be in our blood stream … ever!). They do not repel disease but by suppressing your natural immune system (ie. tricking it) sets you up for worse consequences. Some of those consequenses are quick and some months or yrs down the road. None of these vaccines have ever been adequately tested for safety and not one study has been done on combined vaccines … which is strange because all other drugs must be tested for reactions in combination … that’s why your dr asks you “what other drugs, etc” you are currently taking so you will not have an adverse reaction. Vaccine history from the beginnings (smallpox vax) are surrounded with false assumptions and out and out lies. Gov’ts decided there was great profit in mandating their use … no matter how many lives were maimed and destroyed.
sounds like they are setting the signers up to get sued.
Awesome!!
That signed statement about putting others at risk is a concern – how I would handle it is to only sign it if I HAD to and attach an affidavit that I disagreed with the accuracy of the statement in the first place.
Cross out those lines on the form and not disagreement right on it before signing, if you must.
If vaccinations work, how could other children be at risk? I would think the only child at risk would be the one not vaccinated.
The theory is that if your unvaccinated child comes down with a disease, then he could pass it on to children who are too young for that particular shot or whose immune systems are already compromised.
I second Lacey, it would be the other way around but in Texas for example, I had to sign a paper saying that I was knowingly putting MY child at risk. So I dislike both as both are inaccurate.
I am not vax’ing my 8 mo old thus far, not sure if I’ll do a form of delayed vaccines. So I’m very proud of this
I’m glad to see they did not do away with the philosophical exemption, but I agree it sounds like they are trying to set up these parents for a legal fight, demonstrating they are not finished with their fear mongering.
great to hear!!
-jason and lisa-
What a great way to start off a Monday! That’s a huge victory. It’s time we take back some control here. It always makes me think what are they injecting into clueless people when they get the “Swine Flu” shots and the “Flu” shots. Thanks Sarah for what you do.:)
Wonderful news for Vermont! West Virginians are still working on trying to get a philosophical waiver in place. Parents here only have access to a medical waiver at this time.
Yay for the philosophical waiver but I agree the bit about signing a paper saying you understand you’re putting others at risk is a bully tactic. Here in Georgia, last time I checked we have religious and medical exemptions, and some school systems try to push parents away from the religious exemption if they already have a child vaccinated.
Consult the vaccine choice sites about being able to legally strike through the clause in the waiver that “accepts liablility”. They give instructions about getting around it. Also, it doesn’t matter if vaxes work or not, every person has a right to bodily integrity no matter the supposed “risk” to others for keeping it.
HOORAY!!! I am absolutely thrilled about this and seriously have renewed hope. As a Vermont neighbor (in New Hampshire) I was very concerned about losing this right in one of our greenest states, fearing what would be next. At least VT stood strong!
Amy Love @ Real Food Whole Health\’s last post: Fresh Bites Friday May 4, 2012
Thank God! Even though I moved from Vermont to Michigan a couple years ago, Vermont is dear to my heart. When I heard their rights could be taken away, it shocked me. I’m so happy the people who live in that state and are proud to be liberal stood their ground!
In case y’all missed it! http://www.naturalnews.com/035787_vaccines_autism_monkeys.html
This is great, however, Christine Ziegler has it correct. If you sign the philosophical form says by refusing, you’re putting others at risk, it WILL be a way for “them” to gain the upper hand and lose those rights by admission because of those tricky little words…
“Parents will have to now submit letters of philosophical refusal each year and sign a statement that they realize that not vaccinating puts others at risk. ”
While this seems like a victory, and I am glad the bill was defeated, even this is too intrusive into families personal private lives. It certainly is not any business of the government what families choose for the health of their children. Now the good people of Vermont need to work to get rid of even this requirement!
That is great news! I really hope we keep our exemptions out here in CA… It’s a little scary to think my child could be forced injections at all.
I wanted to share this link about how studies in monkeys that get vaccinated start showing signs of autism. (not that there isn’t enough human testing going on!)
http://vran.org/in-the-news/infant-monkeys-given-standard-doses-of-vaccines-develop-autism-symptoms/
the more research i do, the more clear it becomes to me, that the entire vaccne scheme is a lie from top to bottom. it is a crime against humanity & if i had it to do over, none of my children would have received any vaxes. as it stands, i have taught my children the truth of the conspiracy facts of corruption of the fda by big pharma & my grandchildtren have not been assaulted by this criminal enterprise. that waiver? hmmm… i would refuse to sign it, because it’s a lie that unvaxed children but others at risk & i think it’s an outrage that the language was permitted. just want to say something about the left/right paradigm. it is a false paradigm although i must say that those considered “conservative”, have been on the front lines of vaccine refusal for quite a bit longer than the rank & file.
*put*
Could you be sued if you signed a waiver that stated “your putting others at risk by not vaccinating”? Would parents be able to hold the pro-vaccine crowd liable if their kid ended up with an adverse vaccine reaction also? Didn’t think so.
So, I just talked my husband into letting us opt out of vaccines by filing a religious exemption here in Tx. Two days later I got a mass email from the school reminding us if we don’t vaccinate, we are not able to enroll our children in Colleges…I haven’t had a chance to google this, but does anyone know if that is true?
Holly Murphy\’s last post: 222 > 24,000…the new math?
Depends on the school. A friend’s son needed one vax because of a recent outbreak at the college.
Yay Vermont! I wish those folks could help us over here in California.
Here, we have lost our rights almost entirely. They just passed AB499, allowing schools to vaccinate children over age 12 WITHOUT PARENTAL CONSENT OR KNOWLEDGE!.
Now, Big Pharma is working on passing AB2109, where you have to get a doctor to give you a waiver to get exemption from vaccination. California already allows religious and philosophical exemption and this law would nullify that.
The testimony hearing on this law was a total farce. Several dozen doctors who happened to be at a medical conference next door to the State House were brought in to testify. They each alternated sharing a single white lab coat and practiced their prepared speech in the lobby. The parents and citizens who came to speak were cut off again and again, and the cameramen and several officials packed up and left as soon as the first opposing speaker got to the podium. This law was already decided.
California will set a dangerous precedent for the rest of the nation. You can help us continue the fight at https://www.facebook.com/groups/393039350720224/
Dawn\’s last post: Grain Free Blender Brownies
“…that not vaccinating puts others at risk. ” within the “herd immunity” paradigm. Hahaha, this is the crazy non-logic that gets me every time…It’s like living in the “Emporor’s new Clothes” twilight zone. Well done, Vermont!
Laurie Cohen Peters\’s last post: UPDATE
I question if this was a defeat for pharm or an ground laying small victory. Signing a statement that others are at risk is laying the foundation for the next step to say “it is a known fact that others are at risk if you don’t vaccinate…” and using that track to pass universal vaccination.
What about vaccinations for adults for overseas travel to third world countries? Has anyone had experience with the vaccinations for international travel for missions work? Are they required? Recommended? for example for Yellow Fever? Malaria pills? Etc.
This is an important victory, even with the sleazy statement that must be signed. It is a definite defeat for the new vaccine industry tactic of removing vaccine exemptions by influencing state legislators. Here is hoping that the activists go after every sponsor of that despicable bill, and get them voted out of office. Nothing is more important to that type of politician than staying in office, and every legislator who votes to take medical freedom away should be hit with that issue at the polls.
I don’t remember all the details but a few years back the media was plentiful in covering the story of this American guy that flew from country to another and back to America. Finding that he had contracted tuberculosis at sometime somewhere in his travels and had also caused the disease to spread. In this case, I thought had he had a routine TB test prior to all his travels, he could of prevented the mystery of what & where he contracted the disease also, could of started oral treatment if test showed positive.
To me it seems they are setting the parents up for a legal battle with that language in the exemption. so down the road parents could sue the parents of a child that was unvaccinated. Hopefully this is not the case, but i would cross that part out. if they didn’t like it, i would attach like someone else said, an addendum/declaration that i in no way am agreeing to this. that langugae worries me. they put it like that for a reason.
Thankfully, ALEC is losing a lot of it’s major corporate sponsors, including McDonald’s, Wendy’s, Pepsi, Coke, Kraft, Intuit, Proctor and Gamble, and the Bill and Melissa Gates Foundation due to the controversy over “stand your ground” laws. I had NO IDEA they were involved in screwing American citizens out of their vaccination exemption rights! They appear to be going down, but I’m sure there will be a new organization stepping into the void, accepting big pharma money to continue the vaccine propaganda. I agree with a previous commenter… this is going to be a long fight.
so happy to live in Vermont!
UGH!!!!!! We have had 2 children with problems from vaccines, INCLUDING AUTISM/ASPERGERS that didn’t manifest until after they were given the shots, and since then, I’ve been delving into more & more research & taking classes on this subject. AMAZING what I’m learning!!! It ANGERS me that they’re *tricking* people with fear tactics into signing something that ultimately holds them responsible if someone else gets sick & their child wasn’t vaccinated. That’s insane! I’d definitely be looking into the legal ramifications of crossing out the wording & changing it as was stated above. And for ANYONE trying to decide whether or not to have your child vaccinated, print out the form at this link & demand that your physician fill it out, read ALL attachments, & sign on the dotted line before you EVER allow those needles to go in your baby’s skin! THEY are the ones who should be signing for responsibility, NOT US!!! http://therefusers.com/refusers-newsroom/if-your-doctor-insists-that-vaccines-are-safe-then-have-them-sign-this-form-dr-dave-mihalovic/
As a side note, the news reported a couple nights ago about the increase of whooping cough here in Ohio. At the end of the report, they said that the only way to prevent it was to get vaccinated. I am amazed at the lack of knowledge in the midst of so much access to information. I wanted to scream to the announcer — What about maintaining a healthy gut? What about eating real food? What about keeping your baby off of sugar drinks and processed food and formula?
Many, many thanks to blogs like this one and foundations like Weston Price who keep us informed. And huge KUDOS to Vermont legislators for defeating this bill, and you parents who fight for the health of your children.
I am one of the Vermont parents who wrote letters to my congressmen asking them to keep the philosophical exemption. I also happen to personally know some of these representatives and I know that they are very thoughtful people who struggled over their decision. They wanted to let parents keep their rights, but they also wanted to do something to reassure themselves that parents are making their decision thoughtfully. Thus this compromise. It’s not meant to be a trick or a trap.
So how does not vaccinating increase the risk for others? It makes no sense at all. After all if you do not vaccinate yourself you are the only one to suffer the consequences, right? If other people had a vaccine they would be protected… ideally, if vaccines actually worked which they don’t. But we have to praise the fact that freedom is extended. For how long is the question?
Sarah, Would you give the same advice to avoid vaccinations and antibiotics to someone taking their family to West Africa? My wife and I (24yrs old) are missionaries about to move to Cameroon, Africa. We have a certain number of required shots, immunizations, antibiotics, etc. that we are supposed to take. If it would help you make the call, I could get a list of the exact vaccines but I know they include hepatitis and malaria.
One observation… The missionary community as a whole seems RAMPANT with illness. Maybe this is a result of the massive amounts of vaccines and antibiotics we’re taking?
I really hope to hear back from you. Thanks!
Matt