Obama: "I am not for selective vaccination."

By Claudine Liss

Last Friday evening, September 5, 2008, I had the opportunity to ask Senator Barack Obama about childhood vaccine safety/choice.  His response, “I am not for selective vaccination, I believe that it will bring back deadly diseases, like polio.” 

He went onto say in so many words that he is for more science and the funding of more science if it’s needed.  (His science response is fuzzy, as his first response stunned me for a second). I previously gave his staffer a folder of information on vaccines. The Senator promised me that he would take a look at it. 

I thank you Senator Obama for stating your opinion on vaccines.  Feel free to elaborate or clarify in the future.

Senator McCain, Do you have an opinion on vaccine safety/choice?  Will you accept and review the same packet of information Senator Obama promised me that he would review?

Senators, here’s some common sense information to ponder: (I am purposely keeping things simple.)

1.  Every barbeque I went to this past summer had at least one (1) autistic child in attendance; several parties had children with severe food allergies and/or food processing issues.  One infant I met can’t process sugar. (Approx. 10 parties in different US locations, as far away as CA.)  Maybe I am wrong, but this does not seem right to me. What are the odds?

2.  I make it a point to talk to longtime educators.  Longtime educators can compare children of today with children of 25 plus years ago.  Many educators that I have talked to are concerned, which makes me concerned, see, their students are suffering from chronic asthma, food allergies, arthritis, diabetes, ADD, ADHD, other learning disabilities, speech problems, sensory perception issues, autism, and on and on.  The children they taught 25 years ago did not have these problems/illnesses in such great numbers.

3.  The need for special education teachers and facilities keeps growing. Why?

4.  1 in 6 US children have some form of a learning disability, a year 2004 CDC number.

5.  The US government admits to a vaccine-autism connection (Poling decision), and States continue to mandate new vaccines for school entrance (i.e.: flu shot in NJ). Caution thrown to the wind, in my opinion.

6.  What about other nations?  To the best of my knowledge, Canada. England, Japan and other foreign nations allow their parents to opt into their respective vaccine protocols.  To the best of my knowledge, children are not kept out of school if they are not vaccinated or selectively vaccinated.  Are diseases killing children in these countries?  Are the rates of chronic illness in their children equal to the US figures?  Are we being guided by fear in the US instead of logic?  Are we eradicating certain diseases and replacing them with chronic autoimmune and/or neurological illnesses?

7.  The US government, to the best of my knowledge, has never studied the health of the fully vaccinated, under-vaccinated, and un-vaccinated populations to compare and contrast chronic illness rates. Why?

Senators McCain and Senator Obama, if you decide to speak out publicly on the vaccine issue, please do me a favor and first read information from some of the people mentioned below.  Some really bright people have been talking/writing about vaccine choice/safety for years and years; Philip Incao, M.D., Mayer Eisenstein M.D. (Chicago), Sherri Tenpanny D.O., Harris L. Coulter, Ph.D., Tedd Koren D.C., Barbara Loe Fisher, Amy L. Lansky Ph.D., Tim O’Shea, D.C., Neil Miller, Kenneth Boch, M.D., Bryan Jepson M.D., Jane Johnson, Robert Mendelsohn, M.D., Randall Neustaedter, O.M.D., Stephanie Cave, M.D., Bernard Rimland Ph.D.  There are many more from all over the world not mentioned here. (The latest addition is Jon Poling, M.D.)

Both of you have daughters.  Start with Charlotte Haug, M.D., Ph.D’s recent article on Gardasil posted in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Claudine Liss, Esq. (NJ)

Claudine Liss (accountant/lawyer) is a practicing real estate lawyer in NJ, indie filmmaker and writer.  She is the mother of 2 children, Chloe 12, Max 7.  She has followed the autism explosion for 12 years.  Her interest in the vaccine/asthma-allergy connection was sparked after reading the Coulter/Fisher book “A Shot In the Dark.”  Her son Max was hospitalized at 3 months old.  He was lifeless, turning blue and filled with mucous. He was later diagnosed with chronic sinusitis and asthma.  Claudine credits acupuncture for getting Max to almost perfect health.

Comments

[Stagmom]

Sam, that's a good point. The difference is you don't have to prove you eat Fruit Loops and Oscar Meyer Lunchables to go to school.

KIM

[Sam Marshall]

As a parent I am much more concerned with the food I am feeding my child multiple times a day than with vaccines at this point. Do vaccines concern me, yes, to a degree. Does the fact that nearly every food item I pick up in the grocery store contains ingredients which are genetically altered, artificially produced and or contaminated with pesticides and chemicals concern me...greatly.

Perhaps it is vaccines that are causing the above listed issues but I honestly wonder why the fight against toxic substances isn't being undertaken with the same vehemence. My kids don't need to ingest dyes, preservatives, gmos, rbgh, pesticides and the countless other allowable additives every day. Not to mention thepthalates leaching out of their dishes and the lead on their toys.

The world in general is contaminated to the point of unacceptable (at leat in my opinion) with the blessing of our government regulatory agencies. How can we expect our kids growing bodies not to suffer from that exposure. Vaccines are just a very small, infrequent component of it all.

[CUREAUT]

While Obama talks a good game and gives us empty promises (as usual) John McCain cosponsored the Combating Autism Act of 2006, and worked to ensure its enactment. This law is helping to increase public awareness and screening of autism spectrum disorder, promote the use of evidence-based interventions, and create autism Centers of Excellence for Autism Spectrum Disorder Research and Epidemiology. John McCain understands that despite the federal and scientific research efforts to date, the exact causes of autism are not yet known and greater research is needed to understand this disorder. That is why in November 2007, he joined with Senator Lieberman in requesting the leadership of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, which has jurisdiction over federal research into autism, to hold a hearing on federal research efforts regarding factors affecting incidence and treatment in order to help determine where research efforts can best be directed. As President, John McCain will work to advance federal research into autism, promote early screening, and identify better treatment options, while providing support for children with autism so that they may reach their full potential.

[T. Carroll]

Many think there is a connection between thimerosol and autism. But what about the other metals in the vaccinations, such as aluminum; what about DPT? what about adjuvants, which create an inflammatory response so that the immune system can 'recognize' the weakened 'dead' virus. Using energy-based testing, which some see as unscientific and controversial (just like the discovery of electricity and other advances in society were at one time considered), I have found that there is indeed more to the autism/vaccine issue than just thimerosol. Also, 'genetics' is passing along our genes. Have we considered that we might as well be passing along our toxic accumulations to our children, which could be misconstrued as 'genetics?' Is that why children with autism and other neurodevelopmental disabilities are being diagnosed earlier? Have bigger craniums at birth because of 'inflammed' tissues? Did you know that the flu shot supposedly still has thimerisol in it, so if you and your mate have been getting the 'savior' flu shot every season, you can potentially pass down these accumulations to your developing fetus?

Why is society in general so fixed on doing the same things and looking for different results? Staying inside the box and never daring to look out of it? Why does society not ask "Why" enough? Why do professionals feel so proud to be able to diagnose things like autism earlier and earlier than before but after all of the parent questionnaires, observations, checklists, and behavior profiles, there are not many on the other side boasting of true solutions?

Question everything that offends your soul. Don't just accept an answer or traditional solution just because everyone else around you does or because you'd rather not bother in changing/challenging your current thoughts and beliefs:

It is not 'divine purpose' that anyone should be lost and be in poor health.

There are always answers - FIND THEM!

Ask for God's guidance and find the answers. .

[Carol]

I believe both Senators should be asked the question in terms of parental and personal choice, rather than 'selective vaccination'. Senator McCain consistently stands against personal choice in the area of a woman's right to chose to terminate a pregnancey, even when her health is in jepoardy. Whatever you may believe about abortion, his stand is a clear determination that he has the right to invade a woman's privacy, so I don't see him standing for a parent's right to choose whether or not to vaccinate their children -another privacy issue. Senator Obama seems much more likely to me to support a parent's right to chose to not vaccinate, even if he disagrees with their decision. He does have 2 young daughters and has probably chosen to vaccinate them, as many of us have done, before we had negative experiences. This is an issue that needs to be clarified much more but Senator Obama has always supported parents' rights, so I don't see him changing his position.

[Terri Lewis]

"I hate to say it but I am in favor of forced vaccinations."

Hey, Chris, maybe you hate to say it because it's morally insupportable.

Imagine this scenario: you have three children. Your 10-year-old daughter becomes permanently paralyzed and unable to speak within days after her forced Gardisil shot; you also have a four-month-old baby who dies within 48 hours of a set of routine "immunizations."

Now how do you feel about forced vaccination for your third child?

Oh, wait. I see what you meant: forced vaccination for *other people's* children.

Whew, ignorance can be educated, but the belief that people should be *forced* to take these kind of medical risks with their children is just evil.

There are risks to vaccination in addition to autism, and they are substantial, including death. They are also less rare than the average person wants to believe.

Terri Lewis

[Melissa]

I really don't get it. I just read through all these comments and you don't even KNOW McCain's stance on the issue. I don't understand how you can have this argument. I don't understand why I wasted all this time reading your comments.

[PersonalResponsibility]

Did anyone here ever consider that may be at falt for their child condition, even if indirectly? We live in a disposable society, look at what we throw away that ends up in our water supplies. Did people 25 year ago have traces of anti-psychotics, anti-biotics and other drugs in their water supplies, odds point to NO. Also did anyone ever do a study on birth controls effects on later born children? 25 years ago people weren't serially downing pregnancy hormones to avoid having a period as some women have been doing now. Which mean ovulation doesn't occur when another ova has matured, what are the effects of retaining ova after they've matured? Do I believe thimerosal is the ONLY culprit in the increasing ASD rates, no. Do I believe thimerosal is the main culprit, maybe. Do I think we should stop using thimerosal yes, if only to point out that rates won't drop when it's dropped. We are collectively polluting the land, air and water and are shocked that we are polluting ourselves. Look at the increased rates of auto-immune disorders as well. The capitalist, disposable, consumer society we live in is the problem, but we can't solve that as long as we keep attacking symptoms instead of root causes. ASD, ADHD, MS, MD, RA are all symptoms, modern society is the disease.

[Chris]

There is no evidence that autism is linked to vaccinations. the truth is that diagnoses have increased merely as an artifact of changing diagnostic criteria. the truth is that every credible piece of research has shown that there is no link. In areas where vaccinations have decreased autism rates have not decreased and there is many examples. Also they are now starting to be able to show signs of autism in children before the age of 1 year which is when the applicable vaccine is administered. the latest research is showing that there is most likely a genetic link. I hate to say it but I am in support of forced vaccinations. If the parents aren't responsible enough to put seat belts on the children they should be punished as they should if they refuse to protect their children from potentialy fatal illnesses.

[KarenAtlanta]

Fox news now...
Obama has pledged to dedicate $10 billion annually to electronic health information systems in general, which he says will help track the spread and origins of disease. “I will invest in new vaccines and technology to detect attacks and to trace them to their origin, so that we can react in a timely fashion,” he said.

You have forever lost any chance at my swing vote Obama. That is a campaign promise scarier than any gun totin' right wing Alaskan VP.
No thanks, still healing the damage from the old vaccines.