To vaccinate or not—that is the question. Well, actually, it used to be the question. Soon it will no longer be an option if the pharmaceutical industry has its way. I heard on NY 1 that there is pressure being applied to all the states in order to close the gap on this issue, and not allow parents to opt out for any reason other than medical.
I’m not going to discuss here whether or not I believe kids should be vaccinated. I could tell you some harrowing stories of course (in fact, I tell one below), but I suppose those would be dismissed as being “unscientific”. What really amazes me is how in this country, no matter how much education we as a populous receive, we seem to accept lobbyist propaganda as “scientific” truth. It is hugely disappointing.
In some other parts of the world, the people and the governments weigh the pros and cons of vaccinations together, but here in the US, only scare tactics are employed. We are bombarded with that scary information, even on PBS and NPR. It seems that no one is free to consider the facts, such as the fact that no one who got the measles at Disneyland this year became unusually ill or died. The only report we received, over and over, is that some people caught the measles. We never received the followup information.
So rather than argue about the pros and cons of vaccinations, I suggest we simply consider democracy. Freedom of choice is one of the pillars in a democratic society. We should be fully informed, and then be allowed to choose. In fact, well informed parents should be allowed to choose some vaccines and not others. It took so long for Freedom of Choice to come on the issues of abortion, birth control, home schooling, and gay marriage, to mention, so why would we peddle backwards on an important issue regarding children’s health? Why do we allow the conservatives in this country, who argue against “big government”, to insist on big government’s involvement in forced vaccinations? Freedom of Choice is an issue we should all be fighting for, whether we are Righties or Lefties.
Ok, so now I will tell you a personal harrowing story about my grown son and vaccinations. I’ll tell you up front that he is ok, so this is not a tragic story- but it could have been. My younger son had been born 6 weeks early 22 years ago. Not a big deal, but as is often the case, his lungs were under developed at birth and so he had a respiratory weakness, and developed bronchiolitis when he was 6 weeks old. Because of his tendency towards respiratory issues, and his general sensitivities, I used only homeopathy with him, and was very careful not to tip the scales with vaccinations. He has been on the same remedy from 5th grade onwards, and has been healthy, happy, and strong, and has grown to be a handsome 6’5″.
This past winter he was going to visit his girlfriend’s family in Bolivia. I was sort of nervous in general about the trip as I have never been to South America. I thought it would be wise for him to get a tetanus shot, just in case. I always worry about shots away from home, and whether or not they have disposable needles, etc. So on Dec. 23 he went to an acute care clinic for a tetanus shot. I called twice to make sure they had the correct shot. After he waited for 2 hours, the doctor told him he only had the T-dap vaccine which included pertussis and diptheria. He called me and was quite upset. I suggested he leave the clinic but he was annoyed at having waited so long, and so he decided to take the combination dose.
The next morning on Christmas Eve he said he felt hung over, but had only had 2 beers the night before. He went to lie down but called to me because he was running a fever. He had forgotten to bring his remedy home with him, so I ran out to get it, but could only find a 30c. By the time I got back my son was crying uncontrollably and his fever was so high and he was so hot that I could barely touch his face or his body. He was delirious and believed his teeth were vibrating and falling out, that his head was ‘exploding’, and his whole body was shaking violently. I knew he was having a febrile seizure. I opened his mouth and poured in his remedy. For 30 seconds it all got even more violent and scary, and I was terrified. Suddenly, it was over, thank goodness. The fever went down, the shaking and the sobbing ended, but he was left feeling exhausted with a pretty bad headache. I gave him another dose and he went to sleep. The next day, Christmas Day, he was weak but ok. I was so grateful to homeopathy- again! But something quite scary struck me- if he, at age 21 and 6’5″, could have such a violent reaction to a vaccination, what would have happened to him if he had been only 2 years old? I fear if I had vaccinated him at that age, I would not be able to write this dramatic, but happy ending story today. True, it was an unusual response- especially for an adult- but it should only take one tragedy in a thousand cases to reinforce the important question of freedom of choice. Please write your congress person, and your state representatives if you feel the same way. Ask for freedom of choice, and then support the National Health Freedom Coalition (www.nationalhealthfreedom.
National Health Freedom Action (NHFA) is the lobbying organization. We actually work to change the laws, ie. to pass safe harbor exemption laws so that homeopaths and other practitioners can have exemptions from medical practice acts and not be arbitrarily charged with practicing medicine without a license.
https://www.
National Health Freedom Coalition (NHFC) is the educational organization (donations are tax deductible). NHFC works on similar issues but primarily does the background educational work, not the lobbying. NHFC helps to develop and train state health freedom groups to go forward in their state to make changes for health freedom. NHFC also hosts the US Health Freedom Congress.
https://www.
