TITLE: GRP will oppose mandatory vaccinations

SPONSORS: David Rolde & Jed Stamas. Additional co-sponsors welcome

CO-SPONSORS: Joshua Gerloff

VETTING COMMITTEE: GRP Legislative Committee

FLOOR MONITOR & SHEPHERD: David Rolde. Additional help welcome

SUMMARY: Green-Rainbow Party should oppose all laws that call for mandatory vaccinations, forced vaccinations, vaccinations without the patient’s consent, and vaccinations of children without consent or knowledge of the parents or guardian. Green-Rainbow Party should oppose all laws that deny people a right to attend school or work at their job based on not being vaccinated.

BACKGROUND: Many people are concerned about negative health effects of vaccines, and about laws that force people to get vaccinated or to have their children vaccinated. There are currently bills before the Massachusetts house of representatives (H.4096) and Massachusetts Senate (S.2359) that would remove the religious exemption for vaccinations for children attending school and that would generally make it more difficult for people to refuse vaccinations. The Steering Committee of the Maine Green Independent Party, in February 2019, adopted a resolution: “In some cases vaccines have prevented deaths or serious diseases. In other cases documentation exists of fatal or lifetime debilitating injuries to people, especially infants. Accordingly, we oppose any law mandating vaccines, which fail to take into account either sovereignty over our own bodies or important medical variations including allergic reactions.” See https://mainegreens.org/news/press-releases/168-green-independent-and-libertarian-parties-release-joint-statement? It is time for GRP to take a position opposing coerced vaccination.

TEXT OF PROPOSAL: Whereas vaccines can produce serious negative health effects and disabilities,Whereas vaccines can cause the disease they are supposed to prevent,Whereas some vaccines are tainted or contaminated with toxic or carcinogenic substances, Whereas vaccines are generally not tested for safety with double blind studies or to rigorous standards requiredfor testing other pharmaceuticals, Whereas the risk of injury from some vaccines is greater than the risk of contracting and being injured by the disease that the vaccine was created to prevent, Whereas flu vaccines are sometimes ineffective for the current endemic strain, yet still can cause negative health effects, Whereas the MMR vaccine is not available as three separate vaccines that would lesson risk of injury if injected separatelyWhereas executives from big pharma mega-corporations such as Merck which produce vaccines have “revolving door” careers as government officials in regulatory agencies such as the Center for Disease control Whereas U.S. federal law grants legal immunity to vaccine makers (pharmaceutical companies), and vaccine makers cannot be held legally or financially liable for injuries caused by administering the vaccines they produce Whereas the Green-Rainbow Party believes that human beings have a right to bodily autonomy and to choose their own medical care, The Green Rainbow Party hereby shall stand in opposition to all laws and bills and referenda that call for mandatory vaccinations, forced vaccinations, vaccinations without the patient’s consent, and vaccinations of children without consent or knowledge of the parents or guardian. The Green-Rainbow Party shall stand in opposition to all laws and bills and referenda that deny people a right to attend school or work at their job based on not being vaccinated, or that otherwise serve to coerce people to accept vaccinations that they don’t want. And the Green-Rainbow Party shall support bills and referenda that would strengthen people’s rights to choose which vaccines they accept or reject to be administered on themselves and their children. The Green-Rainbow Party will implement this proposal as described in the subsequent IMPLEMENTATION section

IMPLEMENTATION: GRP Communication Committee and/or Adcom will publicize GRP’s position against mandatory vaccinations as detailed in the TEXT OF PROPOSAL section. This shall be done within two weeks of adoption of this proposal by GRP State Committee. The GRP Legislative Committee will research state laws and bills and advise GRP on which state laws and bills pertinent to vaccination should be opposed or supported to be in compliance with GRP’s position opposing mandatory vaccination. In the future, as GRP Legislative Committee’s functionality increases, Legislative Committee will also 1. research federal laws and bills pertinent to vaccination, and 2. consider writing our own proposed legislation or referendums in opposition to mandatory vaccination. When GRP Platform Committee reconvenes and becomes active, Platform Committee will incorporate GRP’s opposition to mandatory vaccination into the GRP Party Agenda and/or future GRP platform documents. GRP representatives to GPUS Committees will be instructed to advocate for GRP’s political position in opposition to mandatory vaccination at the GPUS level.

FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS: Minor

REFERENCES AND ATTACHMENTS: Forthcoming. To be added.