April 12, 2011

Maine HHS Committee Votes Against Informed Consent in Vaccination

UPDATE! Apparently I am a TERRIBLE reporter! I left too soon! (had my boys with me) One other committee member, Representative Richard S. Malaby (Republican from Hancock, Maine, father of three) returned to the room and voted with our three heroes for the bills to move forward. And I was uninformed on procedure. I thought this was a majority vote, but apparently because the vote was divided, it will go to the full legislature to be voted on!

Could not be more happy to be so wrong. (Study your state civics people)

Mainers, call your state Senators and Representatives! Ask for meetings! Educate! Go, go, go!

Go to Maine Coalition for Vaccine Choice and get on the mailing list.

Original post:

The highs and lows of trying to prevent vaccine injury...

Today the Maine Legislature's HHS committee voted NOT to allow the two informed consent bills to go to the floor to be voted on.

Much of the discussion again centered around the fact that if you tell parents what is in a vaccine, and then give them a choice, they will say no in greater numbers. And that they will do so out of "unnecessary fear." That doctors operate on the facts and mom's operate on emotion, so the state, therfore must save us parents from putting our children at "unnecessary risk". And of course, the Medical Establishment is to decide for you, what you should think about their practices.

Low point of the hearing... one committee member sharing his decision on why he would be voting the measures down. He shared that the legislature came up against the fears of the public on a regular basis and that he believed that his job as a legislator was to separate the real fears from the unfounded fears. In his estimation, fears of damage from vaccination are unfounded. I do not know the scope of his research into this opinion, but it may be as simple as, docs testified that vaccines are safe, so vaccines are safe. But he also shared that he is in the construction business and comes up against a lot of unfounded fears by people on renovations. He believes that these two situations are analogous.

What he had clearly not factored into his equation is that he, his employees, his company and his material manufacturers can be sued for making false safety claims or hurting their customers when they are wrong, and that when those big lawsuits come, they serve to first keep those in the renovation business honest, and second, the force the industry to reform itself at various stages of its evolution. No such mechanism exists in vaccination.

The Vaccine Program is Self-Policing.

I wanted to ask that committee member, "If your industry had enjoyed liability protection for the last quarter century, would you want to force builders to disclose their materials? Would you EVER renovate your house? Just how corrupt do you think that the construction business would be? Why do you assume that liability protection has not corrupted vaccine safety reporting?"

But, of course, all I could do is sit there and listen. And scream on the inside.

The high point of the proceeding today for me however was the vote, because three smart, conservative mothers, who completely got it and asked all the best questions, voted to allow the bills to continue on. They were:


Deborah J. Sanderson
, Republican from Chelsea, Maine


Beth A. O'Connor
, Republican from Berwick, Maine


Heather W. Sirocki
, Republican from Scarborough, Maine

Between them they have 12 children and 1 grandchild. They seem to know that mom's aren't morons. And they repeatedly made the simple and straight forward case that parents need to know and have the right to decide.

I offer a very public thank you to these women for their service to our families and our children.

I hope you will consider contacting these three women in appreciation for their efforts. We are no Big Pharma, but I would like for us to thank them on behalf of Little Parenting. I am going to send them each a five dollar contribution to their campaign funds. I hope you will consider doing the same and let them know that our community values legislators like this that can think independently and that want to preserve the rights of parents to make informed decisions for their children.

As I was on the way out, the three of them were standing in the hallway together (in the same spot where I took that tongue lashing the week before), and as I passed I thanked them for their support. Like a dork, I started crying. I have gotten so cynical, run up against so much resistance to facts and logic, that just knowing that there were three people who were listening ... well it hit me kinda hard. Made me realize that it does not have to be this way. Made be grieve that we are going to go through another flu season where parents have no idea they they are injecting their 6 month old babies with levels of mercury that the EPA says its not safe for a 200lb man. Another year of parents being told to just love and accept their child, while their baby is suffering an unrecognized neurological emergency in front of them. Another year of children in medical crisis being denied treatment.

It doesn't have to be this way.

8 comments:

Unknown said...

Who was the idiot that compared vaccination to the construction industry? I'd like to give him a piece of my mind!!

Max said...

It ties into the argument of, "Well my doctor said so, so it is ok.." ::smacks head::

Mrs. Sewell said...

Keep fighting the good fight, and know that you are not alone!

Crystal <><

Stephanie said...

You are so strong to go up against such horrific indifference. I don't know how you do it without wreaking havoc in these meetings. We, the autism community, so desperately appreciate what you are doing. With 2 vaccine-injured children, I would never have the time or the emotional strength to do what you are doing and I commend you for going to the front lines for us.
www.thelight-stephanie.blogspot.com

Shawn Siegel said...

Every vaccination is a medical experiment, for, on an individual basis, and regardless of past reactions to vaccines, no doctor, no public health worker and no CVS pharmacist can accurately assess the probability of adverse reaction; nor can they predict either the nature or duration of the adversity; nor can they guarantee that that "adversity" won't be death. The decision as to whether informed consent should be mandatory has no business in the legislature - it is mandated by the Nuremberg Code.

Rileysmom1204 said...

Yes, Ginger please enlighten us to who the person was that made that statement about the construction industry and vaccine injury and liability are one in the same. It was a PUBLIC hearing so it isn't "borderline slander" to give the name.
I WILL be writing and contributing to those 3 wonderful MOTHERS that stood up for our children. A mothers love knows no bounds and these 3 beautiful women proved that. Thank you again Ginger. Words really can't convey the gratitude I feel for you.

Paul Elsass said...

This mirrors the bill I ran a few years ago which only asked that mercury be disclosed. The exact same arguments were presented. If I may sum up the testimony I had to hear, which may sound eerily familiar to you:" We are gods and we know what's best for you and your children, and what's best is that you get your flu shots. We can't give silly little mothers this information, because they may not make the decision we want them to."

Carrie Elsass said...

Comments by "Paul" are actually me, Carrie. I don't use my Google acct. much and don't remember how to log in- LOL