VOTE NO on HB 5044 Top Ten Reasons to OPPOSE this bill

1.) R​ eligious Freedom MUST Be Protected The First Amendment of the Constitution of the United States guarantees our right to the free exercise of religious beliefs, with no government infringement.

“​Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.”

No government should be allowed to mandate that a person be forced to receive any pharmaceutical product that contradicts or violates his or her conscience or religious beliefs.

The right of a parent to direct the religious and educational upbringing of a child is firmly established in the U.S. Supreme Court history. In cases where there is a conflict between parental rights and state regulation, a court must apply the “compelling state interest test”. Under this test, the state must prove that its infringement on parents’ liberties is essential to fulfilling this state interest. The state has no such case here as there is no crisis. Simply proving the regulation is reasonable is not sufficient.

2) ​International Standards For Medical Ethics, Human Rights and Health Care Law: Health Care Interventions Must Allow for Free and Informed Consent

The Nuremberg Code was established in response to the devastating human rights violations witnessed during Nazi control of Germany and parts of Europe during World War II. The Code is now seen as the authoritative international document that established standards for medical ethics, human rights protections and science and medical conduct. The Nuremberg Code States: “. . . the person involved should have legal capacity to give consent; should be so situated as to be able to exercise free power of choice, without the intervention of any element of force, fraud, deceit, duress, overreaching, or other ulterior form of constraint or coercion; and should have sufficient knowledge and comprehension of the elements of the subject matter involved, as to enable him to make an understanding and enlightened decision. This latter element requires that, before the acceptance of an affirmative decision by the experimental subject, there should be made known to him the nature, duration, and purpose of the experiment; the method and means by which it is to be conducted; all inconveniences and hazards reasonably to be expected; and the effects upon his health or person, which may possibly come from his participation in the experiment. The duty and responsibility for ascertaining the quality of the consent rests upon each.”

Currently, recipients are not made aware of the inherent risks associated with nor are they made aware of factors that can increase an individual’s risk of vaccine injury or adverse events (including, the simultaneous administration of antibiotics, steroid or hormone medications, toxic exposures, pre-existing mitochondrial disorders or other conditions that compromise immune function). Especially since the current CDC recommended vaccine schedule ​has never been tested in combination,​ and because new with inadequate testing are routinely added to the vaccine schedule (e.g. an annual flu vaccine that is new and different every single year), this amounts to a wide-scale public health experiment, where true informed consent has not been established. International standards of medical ethics dictate that no individual can be subjected to such testing without free and informed consent. The American Medical Association Code of Medical Ethics recommends “medical, religious, or philosophic” exemptions to for medical doctors. Shouldn’t these same ethical standards be applied to the public?

3.​ ) ​The Current is Untested and the Public Health Imperative For the Full Schedule is Questionable In 1975, 2​ 0 doses of 7​ vaccines were routinely administered to children: measles, mumps, rubella, polio, , pertussis, and tetanus – all conditions for which a clear public health imperative was well established. Today our babies and small children are required to receive at least ​69 Doses of 16 Vaccines (not including those recommended during pregnancy).​ Today, we administer vaccines for sexually transmitted and other pathogens whose public health impact does not warrant the cost or infrastructure associated with widespread administration of vaccines. What’s more, the current CDC schedule has children vaccinated for sexually transmitted viruses many years before they are sexually active, for which the wears off before the child is old enough to be sexually active. Additionally, the current vaccine schedule recommended by the CDC ​has never been tested in combination​. T​ here are no long-term health outcomes studies that look at the health of vaccinated versus unvaccinated children.​ One of the most respected women in public health, Dr. Bernadine Healy, former head of the NIH and the American Red Cross​ s​ tated before her untimely death:​ “​ Less than a year ago, the National Institutes of Health put out a call for expanded research on vaccine safety that contains many of the very things that parents are asking for: examination of the way the handles different vaccines, the impact of non-, and better understanding of susceptibility to vaccine side effects. The government laid out the need for markers that might predict vulnerable groups and proposed research on the comparative effect of different vaccine schedules and combinations of vaccines. ​This work is long overdue; shockingly, so is a study comparing groups of vaccinated and unvaccinated children​.” Corporate interests and politics have stood in the way of the completion of basic science. Scientists, parents and many public health officials remain stunned that a basic examination of the health outcomes of vaccinated versus unvaccinated children has not been done. There is absolutely no reason this study could not be completed. Until this study has been done, it is irresponsible to continue to add more vaccines to an already overburdened schedule or to mandate that individuals participate in this untested science experiment.

4.) T​ he Pharmaceutical Companies Are Shielded From Liability, Removing Incentives for Rigorous Safety Testing Pharmaceutical companies are immune from any lawsuits resulting from death, injury or adverse events caused by vaccines. This legal protection removes any incentive for vaccine manufacturers to ensure that vaccines are safe. In 1986, Congress enacted the National Vaccine Injury Act, designed to ensure a stable supply of vaccines while simultaneously removing the financial liability of vaccine manufacturers regarding vaccine injury lawsuits. Congress passed the act as an acknowledgement that vaccines can cause severe injury and death. Individuals cannot sue the vaccine manufacturers for dangerous or faulty products. Since the passage of that law, approximately $3 billion in taxpayer money (not paid for by the pharmaceutical companies) has been awarded to vaccine-injured children, individuals and families. Furthermore, cost free, insurance-covered immunizations under Obamacare opened the door for the more than 220 new vaccines in pipeline development with no end in sight to the number of government-mandated vaccines. We must protect the rights of those who want to opt out of this massive experiment on public health. U​ nlike any other manufacturer of products in the United States, vaccine manufacturers are “legally free from ordinary tort liability for their ‘unavoidably unsafe’ products. The absence of choice whether or not to use dangerous products, particularly when the manufacturers have exceedingly little liability for them, violates our fundamental rights.” Mary Holland, JD, NYU School of Law. N​ o one should be required to use a product that comes from an industry that routinely commits criminal fraud on the public and the government. In 2012, GlaxoSmithKline, the maker of at least 25 different vaccines, admitted to bribing doctors and encouraging prescription of an inappropriate anti-depressant to children, for which it paid $3 billion in penalties. In 2009, Pfizer, maker of the vaccine Prevnar, agreed to pay a $2.3 billion criminal fine, the largest in history. Pfizer admitted mislabeling the painkiller Bextra with “the intent to defraud or mislead.” In 2008, Merck, maker of the controversial HPV vaccine , paid $650 million for Medicaid fraud and kickbacks. In 2012, Sanofi-Aventis, maker of at least 18 different vaccines, paid $109 million for “illegal sampling arrangements” after a former Sanofi sales agent contacted the Justice Department. Why should anyone believe that these corporations are somehow models of integrity and transparency when it comes to their liability-free vaccine products?

5.) ​ Vaccines Cause Injury and Death In 1986, Congress enacted the National Vaccine Injury Act, an acknowledgement that vaccines can cause severe injury and death. $3 billion funded by taxpayers (not paid for by the pharmaceutical companies) has been awarded to vaccine-injured children, individuals and families. For the last four years approximately $200 million a year has been paid out by this system. If a toy company paid $200 million every year to compensate families who had been killed or injured by their products, there would be outrage. Car manufacturers and their alleged conspiracy to hide defective component information quickly become national scandals. Why do we hold vaccine manufacturers to a lower standard of safety? The Reporting System (VAERS) logs thousands of vaccine injuries and adverse events every year. The CDC and the NIH believe that between 1 and 10% of actual adverse events are actually reported into this system. This means vaccines are causing tens of thousands (perhaps even hundreds of thousands) of adverse events every year and they are not being tracked or investigated. The ethical practice of medicine requires informed consent. How many parents who are taking their children for their well-baby visits and routine immunizations are aware of the $200 million that is paid out annually to families of vaccine injured children and individuals? In fact, parents are routinely given a summary sheet that minimizes the risks and they are not given the package insert that fully outlines the risks and the science of the vaccines. We have not achieved true informed consent in this country.

6) ​Parental Rights Include True ​ I​ nformed Consent and the Right to Choose Medical Care For Their Children Parents have the right to protect their children and themselves from harm and should not be forced by the government to risk injury or death without full and informed consent. Do most parents know that consenting to vaccinate means consenting to the risk of injury or death? Do most parents know that consent to vaccinate means injecting foreign substances (​which may include immune dysregulating substances such as aborted fetal tissue, aluminum, formaldehyde, monkey kidney cells, bovine extract, human diploid cells, guinea pig cell cultures, monosodium L-glutamate, human embryonic lung cultures, etc.)​ into their child’s body? If there is a risk, there needs to be choice. While the ethical standard demands full informed consent, the most fundamental of our freedoms as parents demands, at a minimum, the choice to opt out without the approval of any other individual.

7.)​ Vaccines Are Not Guaranteed to be Effective The benefit-risk of each vaccine is not clearly communicated to the public. Most people do not know that flu vaccines still contain thimerosal (mercury). Most consumers of vaccines assume efficacy and safety for all vaccines, neither of which is guaranteed.

8.)​ Vaccines Can Spread Infectious Disease According to research published by the Proceedings of the National Academy of the Sciences, with pertussis does not prevent transmission of Bordetella pertussis​, the primary pathogen that causes pertussis, (“”). In a study published in 2013, researchers found that the method of “cocooning” vulnerable populations (such as infants) by vaccinating family members actually resulted in the spread of more disease due to the transmission of the bacteria from the vaccinated to the unvaccinated. Vaccines designed to provide immunity against viral diseases are also known to cause viral “shedding” by the vaccinated which can then infect unvaccinated individuals or cause breakthrough cases of disease in the vaccinated. St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital acknowledges that live vaccines shed and can cause disease; they ask that people who have received a live virus vaccine (MMR, chickenpox, polio, smallpox, flu) within the prior four weeks do n​ ot​ visit patients in their hospitals.

9.) ​ T​ here is No Problem for HB5044 to Solv​e HB 5044 is part of a coordinated effort to restrict vaccine rights, health care freedom and to establish draconian vaccine mandates across the country. Elected officials throughout the country have introduced at least 110 bills in nearly every state to limit vaccine exemptions and try to force parents to vaccinate their children according to the CDC's current vaccine schedule, leaving no room for individualized medicine or informed consent. These efforts do not reflect an altruistic public health initiative or an effort to look out for the “greater good.” This is a well-funded and orchestrated attempt to force greater consumption of vaccines by the American public. A mandatory adult immunization program is currently in development and it is anticipated to be introduced at the federal level.

Thankfully, several states (including South Dakota, Arizona and New Jersey) are introducing bills that EXPAND our rights to bodily autonomy. Connecticut should be doing the same, not taking away our God given inalienable rights.

10.)​ T​ here are Other, More Pressing, Health Issues for America’s Children American children are the most highly vaccinated people on the planet. Is the health of American children superior due to this public health policy? No. In fact, according to the CDC, the US has a higher infant mortality rate than over 27 other developed nations and our children are becoming sicker every year.

Back in the 80s, when I was a child, prior to the vaccine program expansion, chronic childhood illness was approximately 12% when less than 24 doses of vaccines were given. Thirty years later (with over 69 doses given) our children are suffering at over 54%!!! THIS is the Epidemic. Why are our children suffering from autism, asthma, ADHD, , autoimmune disorders, gastrointestinal disorders and so many other chronic conditions at such an alarming rate?? This is the task force that should be assembled.

The Washington Post has called our morality rate “an embarrassment” stating that a “baby born in the U.S. is nearly three times as likely to die during her first year of life as one born in Finland or Japan.” Interestingly enough, those countries offer far less vaccines to their children. That’s right, offer. There are no mandates.

How does HB 5044 or other bills designed to restrict a parent’s right to choose healthcare for their children help enhance the health and wellness of America’s children? Where is the piece of legislation that mobilizes our government resources to better understand the root causes of these epidemics?

Summary of Opposition to H.B. 5044

● All families should have the personal right to choose their own medical care and protect their health as well as the health of their children. Furthermore, the right to refuse forced consumption of a medical product (as part of the free exercise of religion, conscience, and the human right to informed consent) is secured by international law and the Constitution of the United States of America. ● HB 5044 sets a precedent where the free exercise of one’s own religious beliefs would be subject to the participation of an individual approved by the state. No legal precedent exists that requires a person’s free exercise of his or her religious beliefs to be officially acknowledged by someone else. ● It is a fundamental human right that individuals must give free and informed consent before consuming any medical product or receiving any medical intervention. In light of the fact that vaccines are “unavoidably unsafe” (as deemed by the U.S. Supreme Court in Bruesewitz v. Wyeth LLC​, and demonstrated in peer-reviewed medical literature), and pose a risk to every recipient who receives a vaccine, informed consent is an ethical obligation. I​ f there is a risk, there must be a choice.​

We must stop this incremental reduction of our freedoms and rights as US citizens now, before it is too late. We can have a healthy, prosperous future for our children and ourselves by honoring and protecting our freedom of choice.

Sincerely, Kristina C Ridgefield, CT