{"id":137945,"date":"2019-02-25T18:09:52","date_gmt":"2019-02-26T01:09:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/?p=137945"},"modified":"2019-02-25T18:09:52","modified_gmt":"2019-02-26T01:09:52","slug":"because-now-is-the-perfect-time-to-expand-vaccine-exemptions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2019\/02\/25\/because-now-is-the-perfect-time-to-expand-vaccine-exemptions.html","title":{"rendered":"Because now is the PERFECT time to expand vaccine exemptions"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>In apparent reaction to the measles epidemic going on in the Pacific Northwest — caused, it seems, by enough kids being opted out of measles vaccines that herd immunity has been compromised — the bold GOP leadership of the state of Arizona is acting courageously and forthrightly on the matter: by\u00a0expanding<\/em> opt-out exemptions for vaccines<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n

Disregarding warnings\u00a0by public health officials, an Arizona legislative panel on Thursday endorsed three bills that critics say will erode immunization coverage among Arizona schoolchildren.\u00a0The House Health and Human Services Committee approved all three bills\u00a0in\u00a0contentious 5-4 votes that were split along party lines, with Republicans favoring the measures and Democrats voting in opposition.<\/p>\n

[…]\u00a0One of the\u00a0measures \u2014 House Bill 2470 \u2014 not only expands vaccine exemption categories in Arizona, it gives parents additional leeway by removing\u00a0the requirement that they sign a state health department form to get a vaccine exemption.\u00a0“When a parent only has a government statement that they have to sign in order to qualify for an exemption that they don’t agree with, that is coercion. This allows them to either sign that or make their own statement,” said committee chairwoman Rep.\u00a0Nancy Barto, R-Phoenix,\u00a0who sponsored all three bills. “We are talking about a policy decision now for parents and we should attribute the best expectations on parents, not the worst.”<\/p>\n

[…] Barto maintains the\u00a0three bills she sponsored are about parental rights and freedom, and not about making any kind of a judgment on whether vaccines are good or bad.\u00a0“We are here to acknowledge vaccines have a place, but it’s every parent’s individual right to decide the vaccine’s place in the child’s life,” Barto told committee members.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Which would be all fine and good if the choice to vaccinate\u00a0only<\/em> affected the kids in question. But that decision affects everyone — every child, baby, adult, especially those with compromised immune systems — that child will come in contact with.<\/p>\n

\n

Barto said the bills are about patients and she’s upset that some people who choose not to vaccinate their children, or who question vaccines\u00a0are being bullied.\u00a0“We shouldn’t have that type of attitude towards one another,” she said. “It’s not a one size fits all option for every child. … We need to look at the data, look at the science and recognize that there’s research on both sides. That’s my aim here, to strike that balance.”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

No, really, there’s\u00a0not<\/em> “research on both sides.” Vaccinations work, the risks the carry are minimal, and the lives potentially saved are not just the kids being “protected” by anti-science parents, but the lives of everyone they touch.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In apparent reaction to the measles epidemic going on in the Pacific Northwest — caused, it seems, by enough kids being opted out of measles vaccines that herd immunity has been compromised — the bold GOP leadership of the state of Arizona is acting courageously and forthrightly on the matter: by\u00a0expanding opt-out exemptions for vaccines. … Continue reading “Because now is the PERFECT time to expand vaccine exemptions”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":137947,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[70,358,385,46],"tags":[1747],"class_list":["post-137945","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health-science","category-poor-citizenship","category-safety","category-school-daze","tag-measles"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Vaccine2.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":137796,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2019\/02\/11\/typhoid-mary-insists-on-philosophical-right-to-spread-typhus.html","url_meta":{"origin":137945,"position":0},"title":"Typhoid Mary insists on philosophical right to spread typhus","author":"***Dave","date":"Mon 11-Feb-19 9:54pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Washington is one of a minority of states that allow parents to not vaccinate their kids for things like, oh, measles. And, hey presto, there's now a measles epidemic in Washington, so lawmakers are realizing this might have not been a good idea and are looking to correct it.Inevitably, some\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":130492,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2016\/04\/26\/thanks-anti-vaxxers-youve-revived-measles-in-the-us.html","url_meta":{"origin":137945,"position":1},"title":"Thanks, anti-vaxxers! You've revived measles in the US!","author":"***Dave","date":"Tue 26-Apr-16 5:34am","format":false,"excerpt":"Glad to see your paranoid fantasies of dark conspiracies leading to children being harmed by fiends who pursue ideology over scientific evidence are ... well, actually coming true. Six cases of measles confirmed in Tennessee outbreak. Measles was eradicated in the U.S. in 2000. Public Health officials in Shelby County,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":50595,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2015\/05\/08\/immunizing-against-measles-does-more-than-immunize-against-measles.html","url_meta":{"origin":137945,"position":2},"title":"Immunizing against measles does more than immunize against measles","author":"***Dave","date":"Fri 8-May-15 11:46am","format":false,"excerpt":"Where the measles vaccine has been introduced, not only to a lot fewer people get measles (duh), but a bunch of other mortality rates go down, not directly associated with measles.A new study indicates that measles not only has the ill effects of the disease itself (which kills usually through\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":49368,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2015\/01\/26\/measles-isnt-dangerous-yeesh.html","url_meta":{"origin":137945,"position":3},"title":"Measles isn't dangerous? Yeesh","author":"***Dave","date":"Mon 26-Jan-15 2:46pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Direct fatality from the measles isn't high (though it's worse for kids), but there are a lot of adverse health effects from measles infections that stop short of actual death. The Anti-Vaccine Movement Says Measles Isn\u2019t Dangerous. Oh, Yes, It Is. Measles is back. Again. An outbreak is percolating that\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":51646,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2015\/06\/30\/no-shots-no-school.html","url_meta":{"origin":137945,"position":4},"title":"No shots, no school","author":"***Dave","date":"Tue 30-Jun-15 6:11pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Infringement of religious beliefs is not something that should happen lightly. Public health menaces are, to my mind, a heavy enough reason. Here's hoping California is a trend setter again. Originally shared by +Yonatan Zunger: In excellent news of the day, California SB277 has just been signed into law: all\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":49460,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2015\/02\/01\/yes-i-know-its-worldnutdaily-but-really.html","url_meta":{"origin":137945,"position":5},"title":"Yes, I know it's WorldNutDaily, but, really?","author":"***Dave","date":"Sun 1-Feb-15 12:24am","format":false,"excerpt":"WND is a ... well, let's call it a uniquely-perspected media outlet that combines the ideological breadth of Fox News with the journalistic excellence of The National Enquirer. So it's not something I usually write about, or even deem necessary to comment on.But, c'mon, folks -- this is what you\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/137945","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=137945"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/137945\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":137948,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/137945\/revisions\/137948"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/137947"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=137945"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=137945"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=137945"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}