Some want personal vaccine exemption restored

[Guest guest]

Missouri does have a broad religious exemptoion already

http://www.nvic.org/state-site/Missouri.htm

" A child is exempt if a parent objects in writing to the school

administrator that immunization of that child violates his/her religious

beliefs. This exemption should be made on a Department of Health and Senior

Services Form Imm.P.11A, and shall be placed on file with the school

immunization health record. "

But best is where you can just personally object and be exempt

Sheri

http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/storiesnsf/missouristatenews/story/6B1

F6136D15D8F1F862573FF00201C8D?OpenDocument

Some want personal vaccine exemption restored

By Andale Gross

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

03/02/2008

KANSAS CITY — Darrel Drumright has worked in the health care field for 15

years, but he doesn't trust immunizations.

So for years, the Kansas City chiropractor and father of three has chosen

not to vaccinate his children. His reason — on paper anyway — is religion.

His family is Catholic, so they claim a religious exemption, which allows

the kids to skip their shots.

But what Drumright really wants is to tell the truth: He and his wife are

skeptical about vaccines and feel the shots required for childhood diseases

such as measles and chickenpox could cause more harm than good.

At a time when more parents are using religious exemptions to opt out of

getting their children vaccinated, he and others want Missouri to go back to

allowing parents who don't want to immunize their school-age children to do

so without having to give a reason. Drumright, 45, said he and others are

pushing for a personal exemption — also known as a philosophical or

conscientious exemption — this legislative session. They have been talking

to legislators about the issue, hoping to spark support.

" The point of it is the parents should be in charge of the health care needs

of their children, " said Drumright, whose daughter is 8 and sons are 6 and 4

" It's not up to the state to dictate to parents how they should make

important health care decisions about their children. "

Sen. Loudon, R-Chesterfield, said he's considering backing a proposal

for a personal exemption. He has headed similar efforts in the past, most

recently in 2003.

" I am always open to it, " Loudon said. " I think when a parent does their

diligence and has cause for alarm, they should have the authority over

government to control the health of their children. "

Earlier this month, Loudon refiled a bill that he said should help determine

the level of support among legislators for a personal exemption.

Loudon's bill deals with the issue of vaccine control, but as it relates to

lawmakers, not parents. It seeks to give the Legislature full control over

mandating new vaccines. Under the proposal, state health officials still

would control how vaccines that are already required are administered to

children, but they could not add new mandatory vaccines without legislative

approval.

Although the deadline for filing legislation in the Senate has passed,

Loudon said he still would work with fellow legislators to get a personal

exemption bill filed in the House if his vaccine control proposal is

well-received. The chances of such a bill moving through the Legislature,

however, decrease the longer they wait to get started.

Missouri parents once had the right to exempt their children from

immunizations without needing to provide a reason. But the law changed in

1992, and now parents can only opt out of their kids' shots for religious or

medical reasons.

Drumright and other opponents of vaccines say medical exemptions can be

difficult to get a doctor to sign off on, and religious exemptions put

parents in an awkward position. They say parents might feel wrong about

giving religion — though parents in Missouri can cite religion without

having to declare a particular faith — as a reason if their resistance to

vaccines has nothing to do with their faith.

The Associated Press has found that a small but growing number of parents

around the country are claiming religious exemptions to avoid vaccinating

their children when the real reason may be skepticism of the shots or

concern they can cause other illnesses.

" While you can never guarantee that immunizations will not cause a problem,

they are extremely safe. But the diseases are not, " said Sue Denny, a

spokeswoman with the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services. " It

s in the best interest of maintaining the health of not only schoolchildren

but the rest of the population to have a high immunization rate. "

Denny said the health department has only seen a slight increase in the

number of parents using the religious exemption in recent school years,

while the number using the medical exemption has stayed about the same.

State health department records show that about 4,700 religious exemptions

and more than 1,500 medical exemptions were claimed for Missouri students

during the 2006-2007 school year, the most recent year for which data is

available.

In 15 years since Missouri's vaccine exemption law changed, there have been

moves to restore it but none were successful. Vaccine critics, both locally

and nationally, think an exemption proposal could have a chance now.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and an AP survey

of state health departments, 20 states allow parents to cite personal or

philosophical reasons for opting out of their children's immunizations. The

most recent to add a personal exemption was Texas in 2003.

" As more and more vaccines are being added to the list, that is where you're

getting some pushback by parents, and legitimately so, " said Barbara Loe

Fisher, co-founder and president of the National Vaccine Information Center,

a vaccine safety watchdog agency in Vienna, Va.

She said parents are feeling pressured and powerless with all the vaccine

mandates.

" The one-size-fits-all approach to vaccinations ... is simply not medically

responsible, " Fisher said. " Parents have to be given more flexibility. "

Koreen Bowers, a mother of three from St. Louis, said she's wrestling with

whether she will claim a religious exemption to avoid certain vaccines for

her oldest child, who starts kindergarten next school year. She wishes

Missouri had a philosophical exemption like her home state, Minnesota.

" I think it just puts a little more control in the hands of concerned

parents, " said Bowers, 39, a financial services worker. " It's not just about

being anti-vaccine. It's about allowing parents to be a little more

selective and be able to make an informed decision. "

Drumright said parents often are not aware they have options. They go with

the notion that vaccines are mandatory and don't think to question it, he

said.

" We need an exemption where the parent can say 'I'm an informed consumer'

and 'No, thank you,' " Drumright said.

--------------------------------------------------------

Sheri Nakken, former R.N., MA, Hahnemannian Homeopath

Vaccination Information & Choice Network, Nevada City CA & Wales UK

$$ Donations to help in the work - accepted by Paypal account

Voicemail US 530-740-0561

Vaccines - http://www.nccn.net/~wwithin/vaccine.htm or

http://www.wellwithin1.com/vaccine.htm

Vaccine Dangers On-Line courses - http://www.wellwithin1.com/vaccineclass.htm

Reality of the Diseases & Treatment -

http://www.nccn.net/~wwithin/vaccineclass.htm

Homeopathy On-Line courses - http://www.wellwithin1.com/homeo.htm

NEXT CLASSES start by email March 12 & 13