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February 16, 2016 01:30 PM UTC

GOP Colorado Senator Fights For Anti-Vaxxer "Rights"

  • 10 Comments
  • by: Colorado Pols
Measles.
Measles.

A Facebook post yesterday from GOP Sen. Kevin Lundberg of Loveland warns of a bill, House Bill 16-1164, that he says should be “of concern” to Coloradans who believe the various discredited theories about childhood immunizations being linked to autism and other medical conditions:

There is a bill in the House which should be of concern to all parents who have chosen to exercise their statutory authority to determine what vaccinations are appropriate for their children.

HB-1164 will require the parents of children attending school to directly register with the Colorado Department of Health and Environment when seeking any immunization exemptions. Currently completed immunization exemption forms are stored at individual schools, or for some homeschool situations, the parents themselves. The centralized data collection required in HB-1194 is deeply troubling for many parents who have exercised their statutory authority to determine what immunizations are appropriate for their children. This is sensitive information that many believe should not be held by the state in a centralized database which is available to all interested government agencies…

If this bill is to move forward at all it should specifically exempt all students who receive their education in a home setting and allow all classroom style schools (private, charter and traditional public) to opt out if that particular school determines this centralized data system does not fit their situation.

Sen. Kevin Lundberg (R).
Sen. Kevin Lundberg (R).

What we’re talking about here is a bill that would require parents who opt their children out from vaccinations to file that exemption with the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment instead of the individual school the student is attending. This would straightforwardly improve collection and management of data about student immunizations, which helps health officials understand how vaccines are working to prevent communicable diseases–or not, depending on how well they work and how widely the public adopts them.

That last part is, of course, the problem. With outbreaks of measles and other preventable diseases a growing issue in other areas of the country, fringe activists who have made their careers out of scaring the public away from perfectly safe vaccines have real consequences to answer for. As Lundberg alludes to above, Colorado law on childhood vaccinations is already very weak–anti-vaxxers would use the word “enlightened”–allowing parents to opt their children out of vaccines for any “personal reason.”

Well folks, not only is Lundberg in support of sending unvaccinated kids to school, he doesn’t want the pesky public health department getting in the way even a little.

Comments

10 thoughts on “GOP Colorado Senator Fights For Anti-Vaxxer “Rights”

  1. The bill doesn't go far enough.  There should be a complete prohibition on unvaccinated children attending public schools or other public places for that matter.  Other people's ignorance of the facts should not put my children or me in danger.  And that's what they are doing.  Neanderthal.

      1. Child endangerment should not be up for a vote (duh). Endangering other people's children by putting your disease ridden offspring in the same class as children with compromised immune systems should also not be up for a vote (double duh).

        Snake handlers can praise Jesus and kiss rattlesnakes all they want. But you don't hand the snake to a 3 year old nor do you let that child bring the snake to show and tell.

        Even you should be able to figure that out. However, it appears that Lundberg can't.

         

         

         

         

          1. Oh, OK. I'll just add your name to Lundberg's as being in favor of handling rattlesnakes to 3 year olds. Tell me how it goes when a rattlesnake bearing tot brings his "pet" to your kid's show and tell.

            By the way, tell your toddler to cross the street without looking. Just run out there, you know.

            So you and Lundberg have a new motto: "No law = No child abuse". Seems like a perfect way to save Republican money too!

  2. If adults want to handle snakes and count on prayer to cure meningitis in their own bodies, I believe such practices are within their religious freedom — and let Darwin do his job of weeding out the feeble minded from our gene pool.  But forcing such beliefs on defenseless children is child abuse of the first order.  Lundberg is a dangerous fanatic.

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