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A bill that would make vaccination mandatory in California’s schools has passed the Assembly and is now awaiting Senate approval.
The initiative has been described as one of the toughest regulations in the US, denying the parent’s choice on child vaccination. In spite/ regardless of religious reasons, all citizens will be obliged to proceed with vaccination treatments for their children. There are few exceptions from the bill, exclusively related to health issues. If the doctor considers a patient could react negatively to the vaccine, the procedure will most certainly be canceled.
The bill requires all children entering kindergarten to be vaccinated. This may be regarded as an infringement on the patients individual freedom of choice. Many NGOs are ready to protest if the law passes, declaring that the bill is anti-spiritual and against the basic freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution.
However, supporters of the bill in the Californian Assembly refute these arguments and consider that neither children nor parents have the right to endanger other members of society.
Supporter of the bill. Democrat Lorena Gonzales said that “While I respect the fundamental right to make that decision as a family, we must balance that with the fact that none of us has the right to endanger others.”
Many NGOs protest against the new regulation, stating that it denies access to public schools to those who do not want to forcefully vaccinate their children.
The bill is expected to become one of the most controversial regulations ever passed by the Californian Assembly. So controversial in fact, that according to its leaders, the movement for parental and informed consent has doubled in size since the bill was first discussed.
SB277, has passed with bipartisan support. The vote’s final count was 30 to 46, much more than even the bill’s promoters were hoping for.
While the votes were being tallied, protesters were rallying outside the Capitol. Dozens of anti-vaccination NGOs had organized a demonstration lead by organizers like the National Health Freedom Action, Mom Street Journal and the Nation of Islam.
The bill was offered so much support in part because of the California measles outbreak. The outbreak began in December at Disneyland and reports say that babies as young as 6 week were among the people infected.
Almost 19 percent of the people infected had to be hospitalized. The oldest person to have been infected was 70 years old.
The disease had supposedly been brought by a tourist to the Disney’s Anaheim Calif, from there it spread to another 42people. Among these were students, teachers, and healthcare workers. The patients infected at Disney then transferred the infection to their friends and families.
The reason the infection had quickly spread was that out of 131 Californians affected 56 were not vaccinated. The medical history of another 38 % of patients was unknown.
Image Source: cjcj.org
