President (To Win Colorado)
See Full Big Line
(D) Kamala Harris
(R) Donald Trump
80%↑
20%
CO-01 (Denver)
See Full Big Line
(D) Diana DeGette*
(R) V. Archuleta
98%
2%
CO-02 (Boulder-ish)
See Full Big Line
(D) Joe Neguse*
(R) Marshall Dawson
95%
5%
CO-03 (West & Southern CO)
See Full Big Line
(R) Jeff Hurd
(D) Adam Frisch
50%
50%
CO-04 (Northeast-ish Colorado)
See Full Big Line
(R) Lauren Boebert
(D) Trisha Calvarese
90%
10%
CO-05 (Colorado Springs)
See Full Big Line
(R) Jeff Crank
(D) River Gassen
80%
20%
CO-06 (Aurora)
See Full Big Line
(D) Jason Crow*
(R) John Fabbricatore
90%
10%
CO-07 (Jefferson County)
See Full Big Line
(D) B. Pettersen
(R) Sergei Matveyuk
90%
10%
CO-08 (Northern Colo.)
See Full Big Line
(D) Yadira Caraveo
(R) Gabe Evans
52%↑
48%↓
State Senate Majority
See Full Big Line
DEMOCRATS
REPUBLICANS
80%
20%
State House Majority
See Full Big Line
DEMOCRATS
REPUBLICANS
95%
5%
February 25, 2019 03:44 PM UTC
6 Comments
Of course now that I need it I can't find the passage I want. But recently I was reading My Own Words by Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and found an interesting bit about Roe vs Wade. She indulged in a sort of thought experiment, wondering if another similar case might have also achieved its important change in social reality, but without churning the massive and ongoing blowback by those who are anti-abortion. She told of a case about a nurse in Vietnam who refused to get an abortion because of her beliefs and almost lost her whole career (it got settled before it went to the Supreme Court), which she thought might have had a slower but better long term effect. She compared it with Brown v Board of Ed, which tackled just one issue (though a very important one), but one that paved the way for ongoing change. (Note: I'm going totally from memory here, and could be off a bit in some details.)
I thought of this when I recently read about Jared wanting to find a different way to fight the pernicious anti-vaxxing ideas. I have no insights or useful suggestions, but…yeah, maybe there are better ways to put out a fire than by throwing gas on it. But also better than leaving it all to Father Darwin's harsh judgement.
There are other states with approaches obviously doing better than last-place Colorado. There are other nations who obviously do better. There are health professional organizations and public health agencies who have considered the issues and made recommendations. Granted, someone needs to be "last" in a listing of states, but it shouldn't be Colorado. So, what approach would be more effective?
Personally, I'd be a big fan of making anyone wanting to avoid vaccination complete an appropriate medical information course and show awareness of the science behind the national vaccine injury program and the public health department's understanding of the consensus on vaccines. They don't necessarily have to agree — but they would need to articulate the science. Then, if they want to ignore it, go for it.
Huh? The problem isn't them being ignorant, it's their kids being unvaccinated. They're not taking a risk for themselves alone, they're risking the lives and welfare of others around them.
Vaccines aren't an option, they're a necessity.
You wanna kill yourself because you believe in Christian Science or Jehovah's witnesses or any other suicidal sect, be my guest — if you're 21. But you can't kill your kids or mine to feed your religious or political fantasies.
I suppose there's always the "it's all fine until…" option: your child's belief exemption is ok until a school falls below the 95% threshold, at which time a 30-day notice goes out; if the school doesn't come up to 95% after 30 days, all personal belief exemption children are barred from the school. It's cruel, but it puts the onus on the anti-vaxx community to find a solution…
We could force belief exemption requesters to validate that it's a religious belief and not just a belief in Jenny McCarthy, but chances are that people would just lie.
I suppose you could try an education campaign, but chances are that most of these parents consider their knowledge on the subject to be pretty thorough.
Cruel? What's cruel about it? What's cruel is risking the lives and welfare of whole communities to indulge the fantasies of vaccine truthers. These kids don't stay in their schools, they travel around to other peoples' homes, to stores, to sporting events, to other states and countries. What value does evaluating the percentage of kids in a particular school being vaccinated have?
Who cares if it's a religious belief? Your god won't stop someone else's kid from coming down with measles.
No exemptions except medical exemptions, and those reviewed by the health board to ensure that some nutjob doctor isn't handing them out like candy.