Now that New York and Maine have seen success in revoking the right to refuse some or all vaccines for religious reasons and California has passed a bill this month to curb the number of medical exemptions to be permitted among children who attend public schools and daycares, other states’ lawmakers have apparently become emboldened to jump on the government-mandated vaccine train.
In Florida, one lawmaker, State Sen. Lauren Book (D-Plantation), has introduced a bill that would eliminate religious exemptions from vaccines as well as put limits on medical exemptions in the state.
The Ledger reports:
At least one Florida lawmaker wants to eliminate religious exemptions from childhood vaccinations.
Parents opposed to mandatory childhood immunizations are rallying to stop her.
Sen. Lauren Book, D-Plantation, introduced the bill (SB 64), which would also create a panel to review certain medical exemptions from immunizations. The bill has been referred to the Senate Committee on Health Policy, chaired by Sen. Gayle Harrell, R-Stuart.
Claire VanSusteren, a spokeswoman for Book, said the lawmaker decided to submit the bill after hearing from a diverse group of religious leaders who said no modern organized religion prohibits vaccinations. She said Book has also spoken to representatives of the American Association of Pediatrics and the Florida Department of Health.
VanSusteren said religious exemptions in Florida have risen from about 6,500 in 2011 to about 25,000 last year. She said the number increased by about 25% in 2018.
As we know full well, religious convictions come from within and not from the dictates of organized religious bodies.
We all have a right to live our lives according to our personal religious convictions where Scripture gives no clear mandate regardless of what any organized religious body “prohibits.”
If we all just accepted what the different churches of the United States had to say about social and health issues most of us would be pro-LGBT and abortion by now, after all!
The text of religious exemption laws typically state that such exemptions are only to be used by individuals whose sincere religious beliefs contraindicate vaccination, and it’s those people bills like SB 64 are disenfranchising.
Book’s proposal has ignited massive opposition, with thousands of Floridians reaching out to their legislators, petitioning Sen. Book to withdraw her bill, and planning rallies in the state in an effort to stop this bill dead in its tracks.
We have to stand up and fight for our rights before they are completely gone. As demonstrated in California, these power-hungry legislators will not simply stop at a religious exemption repeal. They will come for children with legitimate medical exemptions after a serious vaccine reaction too. Mainstream media outlets have even called for vaccine-hesitant families to be arrested. These totalitarians will not be satisfied until they have usurped the authority of all families and their healthcare providers.
Pray for the people of Florida as they fight this tyranny. If you are a Florida resident, you must stand up for your right to make medical decisions for your own family alongside your trusted care providers. Contact your Florida state senator and state representative and respectfully ask them to oppose SB 64 in the 2020 legislative session. For more information on fighting this bill. For more information on how to effectively dialogue with your legislators, see the National Vaccine Information Center’s SB 64 action alert.
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