In order to establish an exemption to mandatory vaccines, the Philosophical Exemption to Immunizations Act recently was introduced in the New York State Assembly. Currently, there are 18 states that give parents this right, while most other states offer only religious or medical exemptions.

"As a parent, I don't like the state making medical decisions for my children," said NYS Assemblyman Marc Alessi (D-Wading River), who sponsored of the bill. "I think if you are philosophically opposed to vaccinations, the state shouldn't be stepping into the role of parents to make the decision for children."

According to Alessi, the notion for the bill arose out of the complaints and concerns of a number of constituents who argued that obtaining a religious exemption through a school district was unpleasant. "They had gone through sincerity hearings to determine if the vaccinations were sincerely against their religion and it turned out to be more like a witch hunt where religion wasn't discussed; rather, the hearings seemed to solely address how important it is to vaccinate children and [therefore] publicly embarrassing the parents," he explained. "It is a very intimidating process for parents."

But while the school districts remain adamant about the necessity of all incoming and registered students being fully immunized, at the same time, said Alessi, there are a large group of parents who are philosophically opposed to having their children immunized. "Whether [they believe there is] a link to autism or another serious disorder, they are concerned with the safety of vaccinations on their children's health," he added.

As part of the new legislation, parents who wish to declare their children exempt from the vaccines for philosophical reasons would simply have to fill out paperwork - there would be no hearing. "The only children who aren't vaccinating are going to be the parents who have a concern. For the parents that feel they want to vaccinate their children, if these vaccinations are truly effective as the industry wants us to believe, then those children are immune and there is no risk," Alessi said, adding that, to date, "I have not seen any increase in disease amongst children in states that have philosophical exemption on the books."

After meeting with many doctors regarding the general issue of immunizations, Alessi said, there is enough of an ongoing debate about vaccines that parents who are concerned should have the right to not vaccinate their children. "Some doctors said the benefits [of vaccines] outweigh the risks but they could not say there were no risks and, at the end of the day, the risk analysis should be done by the parents."

After his family's own "internal struggle," Alessi did choose to immunize his children, but said that the way the Federal Drug Association brings vaccinations to market is questionable. He cited the latest HPV vaccine, which was designed to prevent the human papillomavirus, a type of cervical cancer. "HPV is not spread around schools through airborne illness; it is spread through sexual activity but yet we should inoculate a female child?" he asked. "It comes down to the fact that there was a time when there were five shots for children who were getting vaccinated between the ages of one and five by the time they were ready for school - now it is close to 20 or more."

And for some parents, like Kerrie Ferrara of Shirley, the risks of immunizations outweigh the benefits. At her son's first visit to his pediatrician's office, she said, she was offered a stack of photocopied papers describing each vaccine and their potential side effects. "I was supposed to sign all of these and return them to the office, giving my 'informed consent' to these vaccines," she explained. Ferrara said that signing those forms did more than just offer consent to immunize; it literally eradicated what would have been the life of a typically developing child.
"My son developed typically, even hit some milestones early. He had his MMR [measles, mumps and rubella] at his one-year visit. Within a week he stopped talking, lost all facial expressiveness, started staring out windows, stopped answering to his name, and started lining things up," Ferrara stated. "He seemed to do everything in slow motion."

At the same time, the family was throwing birthday celebrations, holidays were observed and home renovations were underway. "We thought he was just overwhelmed," she said. "He started to bounce back and one month later he had the chicken pox [varicella] vaccine, and he was 'off' again," Ferrara said. "Two months after that he had the DTap [diptheria, tetanus and pertussis], HiB [haemophilus influenzae type B], IPV [polio], and Prevnar [which prevents against certain pneumococcal diseases], all in one day. That was the straw that broke the camel's back. He was completely gone after that."

Over the past four years, Ferrara said she has absorbed so much more information about the contents of vaccines and their potential to cause serious side effects and even death. "I do not feel that I was really giving my informed consent, since I was not completely informed to begin with," she said. "Once receiving these sheets, parents should be able to do further research on their own, and be free to make their own choice. If more parents were truly informed about the ingredients in vaccines, and how they affect the fragile immune and neurological system of a small child, I doubt many would give their consent so quickly. Parents should have the legal right to decline vaccines based on knowledge they've acquired and their own personal beliefs."

"My fear is that some day, we are going to look back at these forced immunizations on children and say to ourselves, 'If we only knew then what we know now, would we still have done it?'" said NYS Assemblywoman Pat Eddington (WF-Medford). Considering the growing rate of autism - with no definitive cause or cure - Eddington added, "I think it is better to hold off on these types of immunization shots altogether until we have a clearer understanding of how a child can be affected by them. My concern is that there are parents who trust their doctor to give these shots and then are left with a child with autism. While I do feel that children should be immunized, it should be done when their immune system is more stable."

In the meantime, Eddington said, "having a child immunized should be a parental choice."

By introducing the "Philosophical Exemption to Immunizations Act," said Suffolk County Legislator Edward Romaine (R-Riverhead), "Assemblyman Alessi has done a good thing medically because he is raising the questions of vaccinations and their effects on children. Currently a child will receive almost 39 doses of vaccines by the time he is six years old and some parents deem the trace amounts of mercury in vaccines as a preservative as a potential cause for autism, as well as other physical impacts on children."

According to Romaine, who stated that he fully supports the new legislation, warning labels on some vaccines are questionable in relation to how they are administered. "They are not always strictly followed," he said. "Ironically, many of the recommendations made by the American Academy of Pediatrics almost appear lax compared to some of the more cautious recommendations written on the product that is intended to protect the manufacturers of these vaccines from liability."

Currently, the Philosophical Exemption to Immunizations Act rests in the health committee, which will decide if the bill goes straight to the floor or to another committee before being approved by the New York State Assembly, New York State Senate and then on to the governor.

As it progresses through the committee, Alessi said, "I plan on holding hearings on Long Island with doctors and both sides of the debate. We are trying to get as much information as possible. I just don't think the state should usurp the role of the parent in medical decisions for their children."