New Yorkers,

In case you aren’t already aware of it, New York State senate bill S5841, to create the state emergency health powers act, was introduced on November 30, 2001, and has been referred to the Rules Committee.  This law appears to be very close to the model law.  Its sponsor is Senator Kemp Hannon.  New York Assembly bill A9508, which is basically the same bill, was introduced on the same date, but has not been acted on yet.  It sponsor is Assemblyman Robin Schimminger.

If you aren’t a New Yorker, your state probably has a similar bill in the legislature now.

On Friday, 12/7/2001, I called the offices of Governor Pataki, our state senator Roy Goodman, and our assemblyman Alexander (Pete) Grannis.  I started by calling each of their New York City offices, but was told in each case that it would be better to call the Albany office. 

The phone number of the governor’s office in Albany is (518) 474-8390.  For New York City residents, there is a local office at (212) 681-4580.  The mailing address is:  Governor George Pataki, Executive Chamber, State Capitol, Albany, NY 12224. When I called the governor’s offices (in NYC and Albany), I was told I could only express an opinion on whether or not I wanted the bill signed.  To express any opinion about specifics of the bills would require writing a letter, which I have done (see below). I later called back and told them I was against signing the bill.

When I called the offices of our state senator Roy Goodman and our state assemblyman Pete Grannis, I spoke to a very nice person in each office who listened receptively.  The woman I spoke to at Assmemblyman Grannis’ office explained that when the bill comes for a vote, they can only vote for or against it, as it stands.  Questions may be raised beforehand about specific provisions, however, and the bill’s sponsor may amend it before it is voted on.  Therefore, she recommended that any letters I write should also be sent to the bill’s sponsor.  In each case, I was told that I could send a follow-up letter by either US mail, e-mail, or fax - my choice.  At least one person said that a letter by regular mail would be better, however.

I called the federal Office of Health and Human Services and was transferred to the Press Office,  where they accepted my opinion on the Emergency Health Powers Act.  I asked where I might direct a letter and was told I could send it to:  Tommy Thompson, Secretary of Health and Human Services, 200 Independence Avenue SW, Washington, DC 20201.

I called the CDC and they apparently don’t accept public opinion by phone; they only give information.  I was told that if I wanted to write a letter I could e-mail it by going to their website, www.bt.cdc.gov <http://www.bt.cdc.gov> , but I couldn’t find any way to send e-mail via this site.

I would encourage everyone in New York State to write your legislators to express in your own words your opinion about these bills.  I would encourage residents of other states to find out if there are similar bills in your own state legislature, including the bill number(s), name of the sponsor(s), and the status.  A personal letter is best, but it doesn’t have to be long.  Just let them know in your own words that you are opposed to the Emergency Health Powers Act because of the section that allows for compulsory vaccination and treatment (of whatever your personal objections are).

I have a feeling very few people are contacting their legislators about this, because when I called our assemblyman’s office, the woman recognized my name from a letter we had written several months ago on the vaccine issue.  The government apparently thinks we are not capable of gathering information and making a responsible choice for ourselves; they may be right, judging from the number of people willing to write a letter.

While we appreciate the efforts of our federal and state governments to protect us from biological and other forms of terrorism, we have to tell you we are opposed to the State Emergency Health Powers Act, recently proposed by the CDC and introduced into our New York state legislature, because of the section “Vaccination and Treatment,” allowing the public health authority “to compel a person to be vaccinated and/or treated for an infectious disease,” and making individuals refusing vaccination or treatment guilty of a misdemeanor.

We believe the right of informed consent to invasive, potentially harmful, medical treatment is a basic human right which dates back to Nuremberg and before.  We do not want to lose our rights to control our own bodies and to live a long, healthy life.  If we do lose these rights, the terrorists have already won.

We count ourselves among the growing number of Americans who choose to take responsibility for their own health and to inform themselves about nutrition, herbs, and other safer alternatives to drugs for preventing and treating disease.  At this time, when health care costs have become prohibitively expensive, it makes sense that individuals should be rewarded for informing themselves and taking responsibility for staying healthy, and should not be made criminals.

There are serious concerns about the safety of existing vaccines because of mounting evidence of dangerous short-term and long-term side-effects from several of the vaccines, including chronic disease, mental impairment, and even death.  Regarding the Smallpox vaccine, even the AMA, the CDC, and the World Health Organization have recommended that Smallpox vaccine should not be given unless there is an outbreak, and then only to healthy people around a Smallpox victim, because of the risks from the vaccine.1 2 The Anthrax vaccine has been implicated as a cause of “gulf war syndrome,” and many young military personnel have become disabled after receiving the vaccine.

Statistics show that the risk of damage or death to children receiving the

Hepatitis-B vaccine, now mandated in many states, exceeds the risk of a

non-vaccinated child acquiring the disease.  There is also serious doubt

about the effectiveness of various vaccines.  For example, during the years

when Smallpox vaccine was routinely used, those areas with the highest

vaccination rates experienced serious outbreaks and most of those killed

were among the vaccinated.3

We are not reassured by the following provisions of Section 504, which purport to protect the public:  (2) The vaccine shall not be given if the public health authority has reason to know that a particular individual is likely to suffer from serious harm from the vaccination.  (4) Treatment must not be such as is reasonably likely to lead to serious harm to the affected individual.  We are not reassured by these provisions, because experience has shown that in those states which mandate vaccinations for school children, “medical exemptions” are not obtainable, even by parents of children who have already been seriously harmed, because there is great pressure on physicians not to make such certification.

There is probably a need for standardization of public health laws, but we believe that any state laws which mandate vaccines or other treatments should allow exemptions for those opposed to the immunization for “moral, philosophical or other personal reasons” (quoted from the Maine public health law).  In a free economy, it is much more likely that safer vaccines will be developed if consumers have a choice to refuse those which are not safe.

1 “AMA: Further Smallpox Study Needed,” New York Times, December 4, 2001

2 “World Health Body Rules Out Mass Smallpox Jabs” Daily News, October 26,

2001

3 “The True History Of Smallpox” by Ian Sinclair, available at:

http://www.whale.to/vaccines/sinclair.html

<http://www.whale.to/vaccines/sinclair.html>  or

http://www.whale.to/vaccines/smallpox.html

<http://www.whale.to/vaccines/smallpox.html>