ELaurie Posted January 30, 2009 Share Posted January 30, 2009 I am not attempting to create a controversy about vaccinations here. Out of respect for the board rules, please refrain from political discussions on this thread. :grouphug: I received this today on an email loop. The information below contains information about how to contact your state representatives if you are opposed to mandatory vaccinations for your dc. I realize that some here may be in favor of this bill, and I respect their POV. I am not advocating political action per se; simply passing along the link in order to provide what I hope will be helpful information. Parents in NY State who choose to opt out of mandatory vaccines for their children, are being subjected to intrusive "sincerity tests" of their religious beliefs. In the State of NY, a religious exemption is the only way to opt out of vaccines you don't deem necessary or safe for your child, unless you qualify for a medical exemption, which is nearly impossible to receive, due to pressure on doctors. To address this unconstitutional practice, a new bill is about to be presented to the floor of the NY State Assembly. It's presentation to lawmakers is generally accompanied by "Memorandums of Support" (bill memos) from concerned citizens and groups. The impact that these bill memos have is enormous, as all assembly persons are provided copies of all bill memos when they receive their bill packets, prior to the bill's presentation on the Assembly floor. Please join the parents of NY in support of legislation to end this abusive scrutiny of conscience. BACKGROUND The following links offer some basic background information on this important issue: You Tube Video of Aggressive Interrogation of Parents-A Must See! HYPERLINK "ui8EWKJf2s'>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eui8EWKJf2s"http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e ui8EWKJf2s Kimberly Hartke, WAPF Publicists' Blog Post on the Issue: HYPERLINK ""h ttp://hartkeisonline.com/2009/01/27/and-the-award-goes-tonew-york-state/ ACTION TO TAKE We need for you to send in a bill memo. Below are samples of bill memos from organizations and individuals, to guide you as to format. SHORT IS OK. THE NEW BILL NUMBER for the religious exemption bill is A.883 - If you are an individual: You must write to your representative asking for his/her support and vote for the bill when it comes to the floor of the Assembly. State why you think the bill is important, including whether you have been subjected to sincerity testing yourself, or other relevant experience or information. It is best to keep in mind this bill's goals. You must also write to Richard N. Gottfried, Chair, NYS Assembly Committee on Health, HYPERLINK "mailto:gottfrr@assembly.state.ny.us"gottfrr@assembly.state.ny.us; the Speaker of the Assembly, Sheldon Silver HYPERLINK "mailto:speaker@assembly.state.ny.us"speaker@assembly.state.ny.us or you can make them a "cc." You can find your representative at HYPERLINK "'>http://nymap.elections.state.ny.us/nysboe/'>http://nymap.elections.state.ny.us/nysboe/"http://nymap.elections.state.ny. us/nysboe/ or HYPERLINK "'>http://takeaction.lwv.org/lwv/dbq/officials/'>http://takeaction.lwv.org/lwv/dbq/officials/"http://takeaction.lwv.org/lwv/ dbq/officials/ The memos must be sent to the office of: (Richard N. Gottfried, Chair, NYS Assembly Committee on Health), HYPERLINK "mailto:gottfrr@assembly.state.ny.us"gottfrr@assembly.state.ny.us; the Assembly Majority Leader, Ron Canestrari, HYPERLINK "mailto:canestr@assembly.state.ny.us"canestr@assembly.state.ny.us ; the Speaker of the Assembly, Sheldon Silver HYPERLINK "mailto:speaker@assembly.state.ny.us"speaker@assembly.state.ny.us ; and to your representative, who you can find at HYPERLINK "http://nymap.elections.state.ny.us/nysboe/"http://nymap.elections.state.ny. us/nysboe/ or HYPERLINK "http://takeaction.lwv.org/lwv/dbq/officials/"http://takeaction.lwv.org/lwv/ dbq/officials/ People who do not have email can send the letters addressed to the appropriate legislator, at Legislative Office Building, Albany, NY 12248. Letters may also be faxed. Please post this information as widely as you can. SAMPLE MEMO OF SUPPORT Here is an example of an individual Memo of Support for you to send to the above elected officials: January 26, 2009 MEMORANDUM OF SUPPORT School Vaccination Religious Exemption A.883 (Gottfried, et. Al) We would like to express our enthusiastic support for the above referenced bills. We applaud Assemblyman Gottfried's initiative and responsiveness. It is past time that New York ended the widespread practice of sincerity testing of parents who claim religious exemption to vaccine requirements. Such actions represent a clear violation of 1st Amendment rights and as such, are clearly out of step with the state's real mandate, which is to protect the health of children. Defending against such action is incredibly costly, leaving all but the most financially secure families in a catch 22 (pay for a lawyer against a school system with unlimited resources or pay for private school). It is such tactics that have spurred 19 states to pass philosophical exemptions in order to protect families from such shameful bullying. Sadly, New York is not yet among them. We look forward to the Assembly's passage of this bill and hope that these improved protections of the constitutionally guaranteed right to religious freedom will free parents from this appalling struggle. If New York is really committed to protecting the health of its children, then Commissioner Daines should refocus his efforts toward supporting local, sustainable agriculture, farm to school lunch programs and the institution of a statewide Junk Food tax. Such measures will have a significantly more powerful impact on protecting the immune systems, and therefore the overall health, of New York's children. The present philosophy of mandating vaccination is based on fear and inadequate clinical data and serves only to enrich pharmaceutical firms, who, thanks to legislation enacted by former President Bush, enjoy COMPLETE FEDERAL IMMUNITY from any and all litigation arising from reactions suffered by vaccine recipients. Please take this opportunity to show that New York's government does not pander to such powerful special interests, but instead, responds to the real needs of the citizenry. Signed: Organizations wishing to see a boilerplate version of a support memo may contact Deverell Pedersen @wapfrockland@gmail.com. Internal Virus Database is out-of-date. Checked by AVG. Version: 7.5.549 / Virus Database: 270.9.10/1815 - Release Date: 11/27/2008 9:02 AM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mamaof2andtwins Posted January 30, 2009 Share Posted January 30, 2009 Is this similar to the one they tried to pass last year? Jennie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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