Pro-Safe Vaccine Schedule

Recently I went to a press conference in Albany, NY where Robert Kennedy Jr was speaking regarding legislation which would mandate that meningitis vaccine and booster be added to the current vaccine schedule. 
(This bill has since passed in both the senate and assembly)

A safer vaccine schedule is something very close to my heart. I know this is such a controversial topic - and people can get quite heated in these discussions - but I believe the current schedule is overwhelming our children’s immune systems and that not all children are lucky enough to be able to handle that stress. I believe that these mandates should be thoroughly reviewed from every angle before removing the healthcare decisions from the family and the doctor and putting them into the hands of those who are influenced by those who profit from providing the vaccines. Because I am pro-healthcare, pro-parents' rights, and pro-safer vaccines, I have been angrily labeled an anti-vaxxer. I have been told by some that they hope my child dies of a disease that vaccines could have prevented because of my views. I’m always so perplexed by all of the hatred that prevents us from calmly discussing this subject. If we put aside misconceptions, many of us would find that we have far more to agree on than not.  

Specifically I am lumped in with a group that is looked at as “crazy autism moms” who are just looking for someone to blame for their child’s condition. I’m frequently told that there are NO links between autism and vaccines, and I’m reminded of polio and smallpox or other grave epidemics which vaccines took part in eradicating. My voice is not heard, my story is missed, I am disregarded. Why? I’ve never experienced this in any other debate. I’ve generally been treated with respect and seen as intelligent in most discussions that I’ve taken part in...until now. Now I am written off as ignorant and dubbed as a threat to the health of America.

"Anti-vaxxers" is a cruel and discriminatory name that does not respect the viewpoints or efforts of those who oppose the current system and demand that parents and doctors have rights in the decisions of their child’s vaccination schedule.

The ugly truth is that this one-size-fits-all vaccine schedule and dosing is not working...not for everyone. We are trying to mainstream our children’s health and sadly many children are unnecessarily becoming casualties for the greater good.

It baffles me that everyone is willing to accept that many children can be hospitalized or die due to a peanut allergy, but they can’t possibly entertain the thought that some could be sensitive or intolerant of vaccines.  

As I mentioned, the press conference I attended was about a new bill that would mandate the meningitis vaccine for 6th and 11th graders. The facts presented by Robert Kennedy, Jr. in opposition to this mandate were as follows.

He explained that NYS reported 5-7 meningitis cases last year. He then presented the number of children that would receive vaccines under the mandate, and by using the CDC’s own numbers for reported adverse effects and death caused by vaccines he deducted that by mandating this vaccine New York will potentially see 3,000-4,000 children adversely affected and 9-15 children killed. All in the name of preventing 5-7 cases of meningitis (which last year did not result in any deaths). 

See, the issue with some of these mandates is that the research is not being done. To justify the mandate of something - to remove the rights of the healthcare professional and the parent and push an objective - there should be an ENORMOUS risk to the safety of others. Please believe me when I say that my heart goes out to those affected by this disease, and to the loved ones of those who have died, and I am in no way downplaying the loss of even one child...but where does it end?

There were more serious injuries or deaths last year from children on staircases or falling off of swings. What will we mandate next?

My son is diagnosed with autism. When you watch your child deteriorate neurologically, and you see that something has triggered a loss of function and health, you become a detective. You leave no stone unturned. The regurgitated dismissal of an autism/vaccine connection is scientifically unsound. Thousands of parents have been awarded compensation for their child’s vaccine injury resulting in autism. The connection is sited in peer reviewed studies and is not dismissed by scientists. My son has been tested and these tests reveal decreased glutathione levels. This is the body's ability to detoxify itself. We don’t test children for this before they are injected with preservatives and known toxins used as carrying agents for the vaccinations. Likewise my son has markers for chronic viral infection. He has a neuroimmune disorder.

We have done everything possible to protect and safeguard him. After two prominent regressions where he lost all verbal skills due to viral infections which were the straw that broke the camel's back, so to speak, we turned down a road less traveled. We made dietary changes, we added supplements, we made lifestyle changes as a family to encourage his overall health. We pulled up and replaced every carpet in the house, bought air purifiers, and bring him to a chiropractor who specializes in neurological function. We did everything in our power to reduce his stress levels caused by any kind of trauma, toxin, or situation. We began to see improvements. Our little boy was returning to us. My ears catch a word now and then and my heart can barely contain the joy. At one time I wondered if I would ever hear him speak again. Yet, as his eye contact improved, his mood, his health, his joy, I realized that it was not his words I had missed so much, but his laughter. My son is happy again, and if that’s all we get back, it’s enough.

My son cannot receive a medical waiver based on this data - not yet. We need more proof first. Do you know how to prove that your child will continue to lose more neurological function under an aggressive vaccine schedule that his little body can’t handle? How to prove that the vaccine ingredients which cannot be expelled from his body due to his reduced levels of glutathione (antioxidants) and are therefore stored in his gut and his brain, causing inflammation, headaches, stomachaches and increased autism symptoms? Do I continue to expose him just to prove the point? That's like mandating national peanut eating day, and the only way to opt out is to eat a peanut and have a reaction. I refuse!

I’m glad we’ve pooled our resources together as a nation and eradicated so many diseases. I’m proud of our progressive country and our ability to see problems and aggressively attack them. But, in this case, the casualties are too high, and what’s worse, they’re not being addressed. The pendulum swings and we will look back on our current situation with similar disdain as we do past epidemics and trends. The day our sons' lost their voices, a day when a generation of children experienced more developmental and neurological damage than ever recorded in history, and prayfully more than we ever see again. 

We need to push for safer vaccines. We need to allow doctors to make informed decisions about their patient’s health, without threats of being out-of-network for not adhering to mandated schedules that are not a fit for every child. We need to allow parents - the people who know their children better than anybody else - to have a voice in their children's health and development.

There is a call to action here. This is not a fight for anti-vaxxers, this is for EVERY parent who believes that a child’s health is fragile and unique. The CDC schedule is flawed. It hurt my son. I don’t pretend that there are no other factors. I believe he has a genetic disposition, I believe that dietary choices and environmental stressors are involved as well, but I am not mandated to continue feeding him GMO’s and I’m not mandated to continue exposing him to toxic chemicals in cleaning products, and I’m not mandated to give him foods that while rich in nutrients and vitamins, make him ill. NYS wants to mandate one of the few vaccines still using thimerosal (mercury) which is a known neurotoxin. Thankfully many children will tolerate this, sadly more than we save from meningitis, will be damaged by it.

I don’t want to put fear and distrust in the hearts of anyone, but I do ask that as mothers we band together. Let’s hear each other out. Not in anger and accusation, but in sincerity. There are a lot of factors to consider when we address something as complicated as vaccines, but the next time you disregard or spew hateful words at an “anti-vaxxer” please consider that there is a common ground here, and despite our charged emotions, we can work together to find it.

Stand for something or you will fall for anything. Today's mighty oak is yesterday's nut that held its ground. -Rosa Parks