Some 300 people, many of them parents and children, marched outside the Statehouse today to protest mandatory children's vaccinations, a simmering issue that has bubbled over since New Jersey began requiring babies and children in day care to get flu shots.

The marchers pushed for a bill to allow children to skip some, or all, vaccines required by New Jersey. Many parents said their children were injured by vaccines, or that vaccines cause autism, a neurological disorder on an inexplicable rise. The link between autism and vaccines has been disproven by recent studies.


Comment: Well, now, the link between autism and vaccines has been disproven? That's a very strong assumption on the part of these two reporters who have either not really dug very deeply into the issue, or are being told what to report on this issue. There are lots of articles you can read on SOTT that refutes this assumption just by putting the words +autism +vaccine into the search function. Here's two to start you off:

Major Court Rules That Parents of Children with Autism May Sue Vaccine Makers
Stunning New Link Between Vaccines and Autism Rates



"Governor Corzine," speaker Louise Kuo Habakus said as she addressed the crowd. "Are you the one with the courage to lead us through this health care crisis? If so, give us vaccination choice. The parents of New Jersey are moving ahead with or without you."

Habakus is a member of the New Jersey Coalition for Vaccination Choice, and she said she is the mother of two vaccine-injured children.

State health officials and many physicians vigorously oppose any effort to weaken mandatory vaccination rules, saying the densely populated state with a high number of recent immigrants is vulnerable to vaccine-preventable epidemics.

State health officials cited outbreaks of measles in the early 1990s that killed several children.

Four new vaccine requirements took affect this fall. The flu and pneumoccocal vaccine requirements apply to children under the age of 5 who attend child care centers and preschool. Two other requirements (meningococcal and diphtheria, Tetanus and pertussis) apply to children 11 years of age and attending 6th grade.

Some doctors said vaccines are safe and save lives.

"A lot of us who understand childhood illness and who understand vaccines feel incredibly passionate that we cannot allow large segments of the community to go un-immunized. Kids will die," Jeffrey Boscamp, chairman of the department of pediatrics at Hackensack University Medical Center, said in a telephone interview today.

At the rally, a far different view prevailed. Marchers carried posters that read, "Mommy Knows Best," or "Mommy, don't let them shoot me."

At the rally was Kate Farrell of Monmouth Beach, a mother of three children ages 17, 15, and 9. She said she successfully sued the school district more than a decade ago to allow her unvaccinated children to go to school.

"I am here so other families don't have to do this. If the conscientious objector law passes, parents can read the information and choose it for their family. They should be allowed to not vaccinate."

The bill (A-260) would allow parents to opt out of vaccination for conscientious reasons. Current law says parents may opt out only for religious or medical reasons.