Informed Consent
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Why Mandatory Vaccination Laws Won’t Work
Published October 29, 2016 | Ethics, Informed Consent
Allowing
these types of mandatory laws comes at a cost—the removal of parental
rights regarding what medical decisions you make for your family.
It seems like mandating vaccines for all children in schools would have an obvious outcome of eliminating vaccine preventable diseases. It seems as if denying families vaccine exemptions would keep these diseases from infecting students or others in the community. It seems as if these types of laws are actually necessary to keep kids safe.But what if you found out that mandatory vaccination in schools won’t achieve this goal?
If you knew these laws wouldn’t work, would you question why bills for mandatory vaccines were introduced in almost 30 states last year alone? Would you wonder who was behind this national agenda? And would you be concerned that the government was slowly taking away your medical rights?
Last year, California passed a law that mandates 37 doses of 10 vaccines for all children entering kindergarten (and 29 doses for daycare entry). Specifically, this law removed all philosophical and religious exemptions for families choosing to opt out of even one dose. Historically, this is the first time California has ever restricted the right for children to attend school based on belief system. The argument that sold this law was that these required vaccines will eliminate all diseases from schools– but the truth is many illnesses don’t even occur in schools, some aren’t contagious, and some vaccines don’t work well enough to reduce the spread.
Will Stricter Laws Really Eliminate Disease?
Measles, the disease outbreak that ignited media hysteria a few months before the legislative session, started at Disneyland, not in a school; and with 134 cases in a three month period, there were still NO cases within any California schools. Over half the cases were in adults, many of whom were already vaccinated. And because all U.S. measles outbreaks are started by international travelers, even with these mandatory vaccination laws for school, last year’s outbreak would still have happened in the same way.Whooping cough, a disease that DOES spread through schools, won’t be changed by these laws because the vaccine simply doesn’t work that way. The CDC states that the real reason for whooping cough outbreaks is that the vaccine cannot prevent disease spread and it wears off too soon. The American Academy of Pediatrics and the FDA have both published new research that proves the vaccine only reduces symptoms for the individual; it won’t keep it from spreading to others. The CA Department of Public Health also reported that 90 percent of children who caught the disease in 2014 were vaccinated. In other words, these new laws won’t keep whooping cough out of schools.
Other diseases. Out of the 10 vaccines required for your child to go to school, eight of the diseases either do not circulate within schools at all or are not contagious through day-to-day contact.
So Who’s Behind These Laws?
If mandatory vaccination laws won’t work, then what is the goal? Pharmaceutical companies are lobbying to push this type of legislation in every state to make all doses of vaccines mandatory. Our elected officials receive money from these companies to pass laws which promote or mandate medical treatments and products. In short, deals are being made which take away your right to medical choice; and this decision belongs in a doctor’s office, not on the desk of lawmakers who receive money to make choices for us.So What Price Are You Really Paying?
Allowing these types of mandatory laws comes at a cost—the removal of parental rights regarding what medical decisions you make for your family. There is no actual risk of infection in schools to warrant such strict vaccination laws which remove the right to an equal education. Remember, if you opt out of even one dose, your child is barred from a public and private education. Allowing the government to mandate any type of invasive medical treatment is a slippery slope and a violation of informed consent. What will come next? Mandatory psychiatric medication for schoolchildren with behavioral issues? Mandatory antibiotics for every single infection?It makes no sense to sacrifice your personal and medical freedoms for absolutely zero gain. It is our job as citizens to question the necessity and effectiveness of every law, especially laws that affect our children’s future. And asking questions, including ones about mandatory vaccine law, doesn’t make you anti-vaccination. It makes you pro-education—and that’s information you have a right to know.
Note: The article was reprinted with permission. It was originally published by the Immunity Education Group—a community of medical and legal professionals, businesspersons, educators, journalists, and advocates who are passionate about immunity education and the right to informed consent.
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