In an interview with Hill.TV on Feb. 26, 2019 regarding vaccination policy, Colorado’s Governor Jared Polis stated that, while he believes people should get vaccinated, he does not support government efforts to force parents to vaccinate their children. “It’s important that parents vaccinate their children, but you can’t do that at the point of a gun,” said Gov. Polis. “When the government tries to force parents to do this, it creates distrust in both vaccinations and distrust in government.”1
The state of Colorado provides exemptions based on religious, philosophical or personal beliefs to parents who do not wish to give their children all of the vaccines recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), including 50 doses of 14 vaccines from the day of birth to age six. According to Gov. Polis, “Most states have a waiver process that’s slightly different in different states, and yet Colorado has a lower rate [of vaccination] and so clearly we need to change some of our policies to try to encourage people to do what’s best for their kids.”1 2
Legislation, however, is being proposed to change the available waivers in Colorado. Kyle Mullica of the Colorado House of Representatives is currently drafting a bill that would seek to eliminate the state’s personal belief exemption—a move opposed by Gov. Polis, who stressed that the ultimate decision on whether to vaccinate one’s children should be made by parents, not government.1 3
On Feb. 8, 2019, Rep. Mullica held a public meeting at the state capitol building in Denver to allow parents to share their concerns about government vaccine mandates. Among the many parents who participated was Lindzee Schwartz. “We do not believe that the government should be mandating health choices. That is up to each parent,” said Schwartz.4
Jessica Eberhart, another parent who attended the meeting, said, “Not everybody has the same genetic makeup, not everybody has the same genes… having a one size fits all approach for something like vaccination or any medical procedure for that matter really needs to be looked at carefully.”4
Eberhart’s views echo comments made earlier this week by the National Vaccine Information Center’s Barbara Loe Fisher to The Washington Post. “You cannot bring down the hammer on people and force them to obey one size fits all when the risk is not being shared equally,” said Fisher. “We consider this to be parental rights, a human rights issue.”5
References:
1 Bonn T. Colorado governor defends exemptions: States can’t enforce vaccines ‘at the point of a gun’. The Hill Feb. 26, 2019.
2 National Vaccine Information Center. Vaccinations: Know the Risks and Failures. NVIC.org.
3 Bowden J. Colorado lawmaker moving to eliminate personal belief vaccine exemptions. The Hill Feb. 23, 2019.
4 Blase C. Could vaccine exemptions change in Colorado? KOAA-TV Feb. 8, 2019.
5 Sun L. Anti-vaxxers face backlash as measles cases surge. The Washington Post Feb 25, 2019.
13 Responses
Bless Governor inPolis. Someone has common sense and morals and understands constitutional and civil rights.
Because this is happening in our home state of Colorado, and we have two girls in elementary schools whom are utilizing the personal belief exemption, we have donated 125 dollars to NVIC just this month and wrote two long letters to the state. We consider ourselves to be a discriminated class of person, no different than any other minority whom chooses to believe or act in a different manner contrary to the status quo. Parents and children whom do not vaccinate are discriminated against enough already. We’re denied a wide range of beneficial extra curricular activities just as one of the many points of constant discrimination. Do we now get to enjoy losing civil rights because we do not willingly purchase pharmaceutical products of this specific type from these specific companies? Will the Colorado NVIC group please press the governor Mr Polis for a promise of veto?
This is the “fluoride in the water” concern all over again, perhaps we should see if Gov. Polis will reverse that while we’re on forced medications (or poisons) onto Coloradans and all U.S. citizens.
How generous, that they can use FORCE (Law is force…Bastiat) by banning from schools, daycares, pediatricians denying healthcare, peds threatening CPS , but I guess a gun in the face of families is a bridge too far…..What a generous man….SSHHESSH!
I don’t trust anything this gov. is saying! He and his fellow dems who control both houses of CO legislature are pushing very radical bills at warp speed upon us!
I just emailed the governor of Colorado, even though I am from NY, to thank him for speaking up for common sense and individual freedom. I encourage others to do the same:
https://www.colorado.gov/governor/contact
I can’t remember the last time I heard someone stand up for informed consent (maybe Katie Couric after she left “Today” on her follow-up news show, “Katie,” when she was maligned for running and “unbalanced piece” about HPV vaccines, exposing the risks of this new/fast-tracked vaccine. According to Wiki her show was supposed to run for 6 months before being cancelled in June 2014, but was immediately cancelled Dec 2013 weeks after the HPV piece ran… with just enough time to run a follow-up piece was allocated for the vaccine advocates). And I think we all know how Robert DeNiro went silent after he was targeted by the media when his Tribeca Film Festival accepted, then rejected “Vaxxed” in 2016.
This country is founded on freedom of speech and freedom of press, but apparently not if you are talking about vaccines. Shame on them and shame on all of us for allowing this to happen. We are all accountable. Stand up in whatever (little) way you can. Together, we will eventually make a difference. Say no to vaccines. Sign a petition. Inform a friend, family member about vaccine risks. Speak up. Donate. Eventually we will be heard. Because asking simply to be respected cannot be wrong.
ALL vaccines contain toxins and neurotoxins that cause inflammatory reactions in the brain and elsewhere. It is a criminal act for the government to force anyone to get something that can potentially KILL them or give them BRAIN DAMAGE or any other disorder. People have DIED after getting vaccinated and millions have become autistic from them worldwide. There is NO legitimate science that says vaccines are safe. Injecting aluminum, mercury, formaldehyde, MSG, squalene, phenol, antibiotics, egg albumen, gelatin, green monkey kidney cells, dog kidney cells, human DNA from aborted fetal diploid cells, genetically modified viral proteins, cow serum, pig serum, nagalase, glyphosate (found in all vaccines made from egg or gelatin), and many other toxins and foreign substances is not only not safe, it is a crime against humanity and an assault with a deadly weapon. If people want to vaccinate their children they should be allowed to do so as long as they understand the risks, but for those who choose not to FOR WHATEVER REASONS, must also be allowed to follow their conscience and NOT get vaccinated. Anything else is medical TYRANNY and potentially MURDER. We must be able to hold the doctors and pharma companies LIABLE for any and all injuries cause by these toxic shots. NO VACCINE MANDATES should be allowed… PERIOD!
George,
Right on! I would ask our elected officials in Colorado to do their research.
Dr Tim O’Shea at The Doctor Within has studied vaccines for years. His book
Vaccination is Not Immunization is the best information I have found concerning vaccines. Thank you for speaking out
George. Yours in health, Kay
Three cheers – or more – for Governor Polis. He is taking a currently unpopular stand for the larger good of standing up for the bigger picture. We should NEVER let fear create mandates. The results are always ultimately bad for all of us.
Good on Governor Polis. Nice to see some sanity and respect for one’s rights and liberty in office.
The alternative haunts parents.
“The state must declare the child to be the most precious treasure of the people. As long as the government is perceived as working for the benefit of the children, the people will happily endure almost any curtailment of liberty and almost any deprivation.”
― Adolf Hitler
Finally a voice of reason in this crazy vaccine debate. If vaccinations work, why should parents be afraid of an unvaccinated child? Pinterest is even joining the censorship train. They deleted my “Vaccine Info Board” stating it fell under “self harm” policy. Big Pharma has billions to use to influence Social Media to censor the public.
As a parent of a brain damaged 30 year old who received the DTP shot in 1988, 2years after Pharma got complete immunity to all liability for their products, I will get arrested and chain myself to the state house reps offices to protect our children and my grandchildren. In CA where we lived, Rep Richard Pan has created a fascsist state where my daughter, still living there with my 3year old grandchild, cannot find a pediatrician willing to take him as a pateint unless she fully vaccinates him. Drs licenses are threatened in CA now and theres legislation going around nationwide to not only implement these same fascist vaccine mandate laws, but to also have CPS ( child protective services) come into the homes of homeschooled families to “confirm the children have been fully immunized.” In addition, pharma has written regulations to mandate all adults get ALL the vaccines put through the pipeline. No matter where people stand on vaccines, they need to understand what this is really about. Its not about “safety and health” its about the complete control of our society. Join whatever vaccine, or medical choice groups are in your state, buy yourself some handcuffs with NO chain in the middle and join up with fellow Americans and chain yourself to teh railing in a reps office or the state house. This is the hill we all die on.
Tuberculosis was one of the leading causes of death in this country and it hit us African-Americans especially hard, but the rates of this disease decreased, not because of vaccines (the BCG vaccine was never in widespread use in the United States) but patients with T.B. were isolated, and many places like my alma mater in Greensboro, North Carolina required chest x-rays to screen for TB for all of their students. Cleanliness and healthy diets also contributed to prevention of diseases. Everyone my age and up to 20 years younger had the regular childhood diseases and were left permanently immune so that when many of us became elementary school teachers, we never caught measles, mumps, etc from our students. After we recovered from these diseases we were just as alert and there were no changes in our behavior or learning ability, unlike some of those who received these vaccines.