Following is the comment I provided during the Board of Commissioners meeting on 8-22-23 regarding a resolution on Childhood Vaccine Waivers for School and Childcare. I voted in favor of this motion and the resolution passed 9-2.
I believe that most parents care deeply about their children. Yes, parents have different views on a variety of matters. And, they have the God-given responsibility to care for their children and to make decisions for their own children without interference from government entities.
When fully-informed consent happens, parents are able to make important decisions on behalf of their child.
A doctor or nurse also is given an important role in caring for the health of our society. In this context, it is vitally important for them to be given proper time and education to learn about vaccines, the ingredients in them, the potential risks versus potential benefits—and to remember that the parents are the decision makers and that their decision is to be respected and not ridiculed.
Sharing personally…
When I was expecting my child, I read numerous parenting books, I carefully took the time to research car seats, cribs, breast feed or bottle feed, carefully baby proofed my home, etc.
Yet, you know what I didn’t do? I never took the time to research any of the vaccines—something that would actually go inside of my child.
I never had a doctor or nurse take the time to provide information regarding risks versus benefits.
Over the past couple of years, I have begun to do much more research including asking doctors questions on how many hours they have had in learning about vaccines so that they could properly provide information to their patients in order to make educated, informed decisions.
Have you ever examined a chart that shows the vaccine schedule from the 1980s to what it is now? It changed from 22 doses in 1983 to 74 in 2021. If interested, I brought it here tonight and you can also find it on michiganvaccinechoice.org.
I also have taken the time to listen to parents who have a child who has been vaccine injured. Many of these families have felt silenced, yet I am thankful over the past couple of years many more of their stories are beginning to be heard.
Does everyone receive an injury that receives a vaccine? No. Yet I think the number of people that have a child or family member with a vaccine injury continues to rise.
In similar fashion, certain foods, medicines and antibiotics are tolerated by some people fine yet can have devastating, even deathly results in others.
So why is this particular resolution important?
For me and many others, it’s just a starting point in setting the trajectory back to respecting parental choice regarding vaccines.
It is vitally important that our health department provides information about all potential risks and benefits. I also am not supportive of a health department using its voice to cajole or guilt parents or individuals into getting a vaccine.
How many of you remember just recently all the advertisements you were subjected to while pumping gas, turning on the radio, listening to the news, checking your inbox, browsing social media, having your job threatened due to a particular vaccine that was being pushed onto society?
Government’s role is not to threaten, bully, coerce, or bribe. One governmental role here in America is to defend the freedoms that we have—to stand in the gap.
I am thankful for nurses and doctors who choose to be knowledgeable regarding vaccines, working to understand the risks versus the benefits, knowing the ingredients in vaccines before administering, being knowledgeable regarding possible side effects and how to treat any side effects, and most importantly, allowing true informed consent.
I also am thankful for the courageous individuals who are seeking to be fully educated and informed. Vaccines have their place, yet they are not without risk.
It is the inherent right of the parent to weigh those risks for their child and make the decision.
For more information on your rights and your options, please visit Michigan for Vaccine Choice.