Religion complicates Calif. vaccine debate
By Jeremy B. White, Sacramento Bee
Nick Johansen arrived at a Capitol hearing on vaccinations last week carrying a Bible.
Johansen, who said he hasn’t yet decided whether to vaccinate his 10-month-old daughter Savannah, argued government shouldn’t impose a reverence for science over his faith in God.
Senate Bill 277, a bitterly contested California bill eliminating the state’s personal belief exemption for vaccines, doesn’t apply just to parents who believe they are dangerous. It also would eliminate parents’ ability to skip vaccinations for religious reasons.
In what Johansen described as an affirmation of his faith, his daughter has overcome severe medical issues. He considers her survival miraculous and warned SB 277 would harm devout Californians like him.
http://edition.cnn.com/2015/04/22/health/mmr-vaccine-autism-study/index.html
We need to save these children from being saved.
Religion complicates everything. What about religious “Parents” that don’t want to treat their ill children and just pray that the get well… is that ok? How about religious “Parents” that don’t believe in using any anesthesia on children for surgery… is that ok? I wonder if they vaccinate their animals?
There is more “mercury” in a lot of fish then in a DPT shot. And now that the ethyl mercury has been removed, fish has more methyl mercury for sure.
This whole vaccinate debate is rediculous for the 21st Century. Do “Parents” really want their children to experience Polio again? NO!
Rock, as I understand it, the religion debate is because of the use of stem-cells in vaccines, not mercury levels.
What does Angry Sky Man have against stem cells? And why are all the cult members still eating shrimp and wearing clothes of mixed fibers? Surely ASM would make an exception to save the lives of children.
Or… we are thwarting ASM’s next pestilence. Oh we will pay dearly for that, might as well just let it happen.
Grass. “Stem cells?” A quick search indicates another bad argument from the anti-vaccination crowd… Let kids get ill because of the use of forty year old cell lines from aborted fetuses.
Kenya has a higher vaccination rate then we do.
Hey, I vaccinated all my kids. I did NOT want them getting Polio or other preventable diseases.
I’m pretty sure that the problem with the stem cells is not a health issue, but the fact that they come from aborted fetuses. It’s a moral issue, not a health issue.
Greengrass, are ALL stem cells used in research and medical procedures obtained form aborted fetuses?
I ask because your comment seems to infer that.
I believe they are. Where else would they come from? Forgive me, I’m not an expert on this stuff.
Here is an excerpt from the American Medical Association:
‘Where do scientists get stem cells?
This is the main area of debate that surrounds this technology. Adult stem cells can be removed from adult tissues with little harmful effect on the individual while embryonic stem cells are derived from multicellular embryos that have been cultured in the laboratory.
Following is a list of current and potential sources of stem cells:
Early embryos created by in vitro fertilization – either those which are not needed for infertility treatment (sometimes called spare embryos) or created specifically for research;
Early embryos created by somatic (body) cell nuclear transfer (SCNT), a procedure that bypasses the normal fertilization process by taking the genetic material from a cell in an adult’s body and fusing it with an empty egg cell. This is a form of therapeutic cloning, which would allow cells to be customized for each individual and thereby minimizethe chances of tissue rejection;
Germ cells or organs of an aborted fetus;
Blood cells of the umbilical cord at the time of birth;
Some adult tissues (such as bone marrow);
Mature adult tissue cells reprogrammed to behave like stem cells’