Minutus

In a message dated 11/22/01 8:42:04 AM, finrod@webstar.co.uk writes:

>

Each State in the USA has different rules. In some, you can avoid school
vaccinations for children with a "medical exemption" ie a note from a doctor.
In some states, you can get a "religious exemption" with a note from clergy.
In Washington State, they have a very progressive law. You can have a
"personal exemption" just by checking the box for it, and signing your name.
Some passionate advocates of non-vaccination in this state moved this
exemption into law in the 1980's.
This points out that some of these vaccination laws are inacted on the state
level, some on the federal. This means that interpretation of the laws will
vary depending on where you live.
Melanie Grimes

although it is true that there are individual state laws regarding medical mandates, the information coming from parents is that they are under great pressure to vaccinate. the medical profession and the schools/states do little to clearly inform the parent population of their rights. in NYS the pressure is very high to vaccinate and school nurses who oversee the records, usually, either do not know the law or misrepresent it.

now, due to the Sept 11 incident, there is new legislation being proposed on a federal level that will universally mandate certain vaccinations such as smallpox with stiff penalties for non-compliance. some people, myself included, find this a very scarey prospect.

i totally agree that such enforcements and manipulations are against the constitution but unless the public informs itself of all the aspects of the medical situation and creates a groundswell of oppositon, i fear this legislation will be successfully promoted.

the consequences of such legislation, i fear, will bode poorly for homeopathy and other holisitc modalities. NYS has an effort in the works to create a patient's bill of rights that essentially will legalize homeopathy. i worry what the prospects of this effort will be if the federal legislation succeeds. and what is even scarier to me is that many people who claim they are holistic in their approach to health support the attrition of civil liberties in the name of national security. i do not want to take this discussion onto a heavy political track, but it is important to understand that political and economic forces are behind all of this restriction. for example information is coming out about the anthrax vaccination and who controls the patent and the company producing it. if i can get my hands on some of the documentation, i will post it if people are interested.

tanya