Thousands Exercise Their Right to Religious Vaccine Exemption at New Jersey Capitol
11 hours. 11 hours. 11 hours. 11 hours. 11 hours. 11 hours!
Citizens chanted, protested, stood in the cold, ate delivery pizza in the cold, held fast in the cold to fight for 11 hours on Monday to protect the right to a religious exemption for vaccination. They were successful. s2173 was tabled for 2019. You can bet it will be back in 2020. For today, it's a win for individual rights, religious freedom and a child's right to an education. Del Bigtree has three videos of the day on The Highwire. Congratulations, New Jersey.
Yes, John, but note that Gov. Murphy acknowledged that the protesters were tremendously passionate, and he did not actually say he would sign the bill. And of course he can't sign it unless it passes the state senate. At the very least, we have made him think twice. He might even quietly signal to those Democratic legislators who opposed the bill that they can continue to block it, which would let him off the hook. Though they belong to the same party, Murphy is a bitter political rival of Steve Sweeney, the Senate President who promoted the bill, and Murphy wouldn't be unhappy if Sweeney suffered another humiliating defeat.
Posted by: Jonathan Rose | December 19, 2019 at 09:26 AM
Leah and Jonathan. Thank you for the feedback from the day. I watched a lot of it live, in awe, from UK. Just watching was inspiring. Reading about the pizza deliveries from supporters, brought tears to my eyes. So much support from so many people all over the world.
So well done, all of those who attended and kept on chanting.
Posted by: susan welch | December 19, 2019 at 03:54 AM
Governor Murphy getting ready to sign law
https://nj1015.com/murphy-on-vaccines-bill-well-be-guided-by-science-and-facts/
Posted by: John Stone | December 19, 2019 at 01:56 AM
I was also there, and Leah is right. Normally I don't care for demonstrations, but this one was inspiring and politically very effective. It attracted well over a thousand people on very short notice, who stood and shouted for nearly 12 hours in a bone-chilling drizzle. Only a few of us were allowed into the State House, but through a window they flashed encouraging messages to the crowd. One sign read "LOUDER!!! THEY ARE RATTLED!" and indeed, the legislators could hear our chants and were scared. The political bosses tried to drag out the proceedings and intimidate resisting legislators, but in the end they threw in the towel, though everyone had predicted this bill would pass easily. When it became clear that the demonstrators would sit tight through lunch and dinner, supporters all over the country ordered pizzas from local pizzarias and had them delivered -- more than we could possibly eat. The state troopers said that this was the loudest and best behaved protest they had ever seen.
The legislature may try again on January 11 or 13, but they have lost the element of surprise, and now protesters have plenty of time to plan and mobilize. After Christmas we could probably attract a much bigger crowd. Believe me, politicians notice that -- and they noticed that there were no crowds demanded an end to vaccine exemptions (there never are). We are now on a roll, and we should keep up the offensive.
Posted by: Jonathan Rose | December 18, 2019 at 10:58 PM
I was there. I am normally not the type to go to a protest but what the hell...It was a blast. I am now even more committed to this issue. I had plenty of time to meet people with all types of reasons to be there: religious, health, and plain mad at government overreach in general. I highly recommend political action to shy souls like myself. Step out to the next protest or legislative meeting in your area. Speak up. Shout even. You won’t regret it.
Posted by: Leah | December 18, 2019 at 05:32 PM
So, tabled means what?
Will it be brought up first in 2020, when all are gone!
Posted by: Benedetta | December 18, 2019 at 05:16 PM
Well its like this, WE can either brave the cold temperatures now for 11 hours, or you can spend eternity frozen in the dark deep earth 12 feet down. The CHOICE is simple......FIGHT
Don't expect ANYONE to do the fighting for you. They are counting on that and probably have people in position to make sure we fail .
https://www.naturalblaze.com/2019/12/massive-public-pushback-sinks-new-jerseys-attack-upon-religious-exemptions-for-vaccines-says-icans-del-bigtree.html
https://californiaglobe.com/section-2/parents-in-southern-california-demand-school-board-declare-district-a-sanctuary-community-for-parental-rights/
Posted by: White Rose | December 18, 2019 at 08:21 AM
Predictably …. NO MEDIA COVERAGE of thousands PROTESTING proposed legislation to VIOLATE OUR HUMANITARIAN RIGHT TO INFORMED CONSENT AS WELL AS OUR CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHT TO OUR RELIGIOUS BELIEFS.
Every day and night we hear … over and over again … the SAME coverage of the SAME controversial/political issues .. global warming … impeachment …. ban vaping or plastic straws …. gay rights .. abortion … on and on.
The ONLY issue that is simply NOT ALLOWED to be discussed, debated or even reported on .. is VACCINES .. so successful is this BLACKOUT of information … THOUSANDS UPON THOUSANDS of people have taken to the streets in various States to protest legislation that seeks to eliminate all existing exemptions to mandated vaccines .. effectively denying any unvaccinated child his/her right to public education .. schools, day cares, etc. … AND OUR CORRUPT MEDIA DELIBERATELY IGNORES THESE PROTESTING PARENTS …. THEY MIGHT WAS WELL HAVE STAYED HOME AS FAR AS THE MEDIA IS CONCERNED.
Indeed … had Rosa Parks been among these protesting parents seeking to protect their CIVIL RIGHTS … she would be non-existent to our nation's history or to the media of today.
Posted by: Bob Moffit | December 18, 2019 at 08:02 AM