California Passes Compulsory Vaccinations

[Michael K.]

http://www.latimes.com/local/political/la-me-ln-governor-signs-tough-new-vaccination-law-20150630-story.html#page=1

June 30, 2015. 9:11 PM

California governor signs tougher vaccination law, says benefits outweigh the risks

Adopting one of the most far-reaching vaccination laws in the nation, California on Tuesday barred religious and other personal-belief exemptions for schoolchildren, a move that could affect tens of thousands of students and sets up a potential court battle with opponents of immunization.

California's weakened public health defenses against measles and other preventable diseases led to the adoption of the measure, signed Tuesday by Gov. Jerry Brown, intended to stem the rising number of parents who opt not to inoculate their children.

Public health officials said a proliferation of waivers, many sought because of unfounded concerns about the safety of vaccines, helped fuel a measles outbreak that started at Disneyland in December and quickly spread across the West, infecting 150 people..

"I think it's a great day for California's children. You're living in a state that just got a little safer," said Dr. Paul Offit, chief of the division of infectious diseases at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and an advocate of immunization.

California joins Mississippi and West Virginia as the only states to ban vaccination waivers based on religion. All 50 states require immunization of children starting school, although about 20 allow exemptions based on personal beliefs.

Beginning with the 2016 school year, the new law could affect more than 80,000 California students who annually claim personal belief exemptions.

Only medical exceptions will be allowed for those entering day care and kindergarten. Children with physician-certified allergies and immune-system deficiencies, for example, will be exempted.

Parents can still decline to vaccinate children who attend private home-based schools or independent studies off campus.

"The science is clear that vaccines dramatically protect children against a number of infectious and dangerous diseases," Brown said in a prepared statement. "While it's true that no medical intervention is without risk, the evidence shows that immunization powerfully benefits and protects the community."

Brown had supported a religious exemption as recently as 2012, and faced criticism because of it.

This year, hundreds of people opposed to vaccination descended on the Capitol to protest the new legislation. They argued that it would violate parents' right to make decisions about their children's health and interfere with their children's right to a public education.

"I'm heartbroken," said Rebecca Estepp of Poway, who belongs to the advocacy group California Coalition for Health Choice, which opposed the legislation. "It's so coercive. It's so punitive."

Estepp, who said her 17-year-old son was injured by a vaccine, said opponents would be likely to challenge the law in court.

Dotty Hagmier, a mother of three from Orange County who also criticized the measure, said many families may choose to home-school or move out of the state.

"These moms are strong," she said. "And they're not going to just give up. They're not going to give up their rights."

Health officials say declining immunization rates in some schools and communities have led to a loss of "herd immunity," a situation in which high local vaccination rates against a contagious disease suppress it from spreading.

"When you get really close to immunizing everybody... the less you'll see of those diseases," said Dr. Jeffrey Gunzenhauser, interim health officer for Los Angeles County.

Leah Russin, a Palo Alto mother who worked with Vaccinate California, an advocacy group in favor of the legislation, said the new law helps assuage fears that many communicable diseases could afflict her 22-month-old son, Leo.

"There are a lot of things to worry about when you have a little kid," Russin said, "but I no longer have to worry that he's going to get measles at school."

[Idaho Kid]

An Open Letter to Legislators Currently Considering Vaccine Legislation from Tetyana Obukhanych, PhD in Immunology
http://stateofthenation2012.com/?p=14430

[yankeedoodle]

The bonanza for big pharma never stops.  Not only are they forcing vaccines on Californians - and, probably, sooner or later, all Americans - but the TPP protection act will guarantee big pharma enormous profits by blocking less expensive treatments and drugs.

Leaked TPP document shows US favoring Big Pharma
http://rt.com/usa/271084-tpp-leak-big-pharma/?utm_source=browser&utm_medium=aplication_chrome&utm_campaign=chrome

[Michael K.]

I think this might go to the Supremes.  I bet it will get appealed soon.  We can wait and see, but in the mean time what else is busy changing off to one side? The tempo of the ideological advance of the Brave New World (#GoingDutch) is so swift that the changes are reaching a pitch of nearly something every week.  I guess that means somebody is at work.