What Are My Rights If I Choose Not to Vaccinate My Children?

I am having real trouble with all the suggestions here that someone who has not listed religious beliefs as the reason for chosing not to vaccinate claim religious exemption. Advocating what is ultimately a lie is simply unethical and wrong.

All 50 states have both medical and religious exemptions for vaccination, so you can go that route. Many also have philosophical exemptions, but New Jersey is not one of those.

Here's a link with more information on the individual state laws regarding vaccinations and exemptions: http://www.nvic.org/Vaccine-Laws/state-vaccine-requiremen...

I study methylmercury, a compound related to thimerosol, and its effects on the central nervous system, and I would like to point out a couple of things here. First off, the diseases that these vaccines are made to fight are far worse than any damage that the thimerosol can do. Second, thimerosol has been eliminated from most childhood vaccines (you can ask if you have doubts, and you can request single-dose vials of vaccine, which don't have any thimerosol in them. Thimerosol keeps bacteria from growing in multiple-dose vaccine vials once they are opened.) Third, vaccines are made in clean, controlled laboratory manufacturing facilities that are constantly inspected, and the vaccines themselves are tested before distribution. And fourth, you actually get more mercury from eating predator fish like tuna....yet nobody is crusading to clean up the world's oceans and sources of mercury contamination!

M.,
I am interested, and this is truly coming from a curious standpoint, what happens when your young child is (God forbid) severely infected with one of the diseases, sicknesses that these vaccines fight off? What happens when your small child gets the mumps? Do you then go to the hospital to save their life and use the poisons then?
Personally, all of the children who hang out with my child have been vaccinated. Now, that is by sheer coincidence. However, I do agree with the woman below who said you should let parents know if your child has not been vaccinated. This may seem foolish to you, but if my daughter got the flu or something like that i would let parents know and there really is no difference.
I have many friends who are VERY against putting anything poisonous into their children's body, yet they still vaccinated.
My cousin's first son is autistic and she vaccinated (her two other children are not and she vaccinated them as well) and she does not believe that the vaccine had anything to do with it. Her belief is that autism comes out at a certain age regardless and it happens to be around the same time as the vaccines than that is purely coincidental. However, to her the danger of not vaccinating and losing her child forever was much scarier.
Good luck with whatever you choose.
But PLEASE let other parents know if you don't do it. As much as it is your right to not vaccinate your child, it is the other parent's right to know as well.

Please be sure to let friends with children know you have not vaccinated so they can make an educated decision of wether or not to expose their children to your children.

I dont know what your rights are, but I do think you have to research the horrors of polio, the death rate of measles and the rate of encephalitis resulting in permanent damage from the high fever among other things that kids got from measles. Then the fact that boys became sterile if they got mumps, then the fact that children were born with horrible birth defects if their mother got German measles. After you have researched those research diphtheria, whooping cough and tetanus. These are ALL diseases that are around today. There recently was an out break of measles in the South and children died.
Now that I hopefully have scared you, let me give you my theory on all this. Years ago babies got DPT shots early, then later they got polio, then MMR, NOW it seems they get all of those together PLUS chicken pox, hepatitis and lord knows what. I think its a very bad idea for babies to get all those shots at once or close together.
At any rate I would rather take the chance with autism (which hasnt been proven) than take a chance my child might die. BTW I dont believe autism has increased. I think doctors are diagnosing any kid with abnormal behavior as autistic. "Doctor my son likes to look at the stars at night." Oh ma'am he must be autistic."

My children are vaccinated with thimerosol-free vaccines. The relationship between vaccines & autism has been inconclusive at best. Most schools (all public ones that I know of) require vaccinations. I respect your personal choice not to vaccinate--please respect the health of the general public.

M.,

This is a very, very hot-button topic with many mothers (as you have discovered by reading the responses you have already received). I think you need to do what you feel is best for your children. If you are comfortable not vaccinating them and running the risk of them contracting a potentially fatal, and completely avoidable, childhood disease, that is completely your right as a parent.

According to another mother who responded, children in other countries are not vaccinated and are just fine. Sure, that's true, but thousands... if not millions... of these same children die every year from illnesses that vaccines were designed to protect them against. Pertussis. Measles. Tetanus. Polio. Rotavirus.

I'm fully expecting a retort or flaming of some sort, but I am a mother whose child is completely vaccinated and has received the seasonal flu shot as well as the H1N1 shot. That is MY choice. I would rather have him protected than not. He's not autistic. He's off the charts developmentally. He's a happy, healthy, lovely little boy.

Personally, I have a very big problem with the religious exemption. Most of the time, it is a lie in order to avoid the rules to have your child vaccinated. However, if that's how it needs to be for you and others to justify your decision, that's how it needs to be.

I won't try to convince you to vaccinate. It is very clear you have made your mind up. I will say that I very humbly and respectfully disagree with your choice.

My best to you.

Hi, M.! Well done for questioning what most blindly follow. It is true that vaccines do NOT immunize and are not the reason for the decline of the diseases they claim to prevent. You can still send your children to schools with a waiver; religious or philosophical beliefs being the reasons. Just ask the school itself. And whatever grief you may hear, just nod and smile politely, knowing you have in fact made the best decision for your child. It takes courage to go against the majority even when they are misinformed!

You have many people telling you what you did is crazy, and many others applauding you. Here are my 2 cents:

If you like to travel at all, whether it is to other states or other countries, I think you are putting your children at risk to catching some of these nearly eradicated diseases by not vaccinating them, especially if you use public transportation (subway, bus, airplane, etc.)

As to the idea of telling/not telling other parents that your children are not vaccinated, your children are not putting vaccinated kids at risk. But you want to pay attention to the vaccine schedules and find out what childhood vaccines use live viruses, because these vaccines MAY put your children at risk to catching the disease, so you would want to know if one of your children's friends or their siblings had just been vaccinated with a live-virus vaccine. This can be an issue for adults with compromised immunes systems as well, such as people who have just gone through chemotherapy or had a bone-marrow transplant. Vaccines that do not use live viruses will not be communicated from person to person.

My family is not getting the flu vaccine or the h1n1 vaccine, but not because I have doubts as to the safety of the vaccines - I did, and after extensive research I am convinced that the h1n1 in this country is safe, probably safer than the seasonal flu vaccine - we're not getting them because i feel these viruses are less of a threat (at this time) than the diseases most of the childhood vaccines protect against, my family is generally very healthy and I do feel some vaccines are overkill (chicken pox, for example).

If you decide to vaccinate later, the things you want to watch out for are Thimerosal AND adjuvants. Adjuvants are ingredients added to cause an increased immune response to the vaccine, they use these for a couple of reasons, 1- the vaccine isn't a good match to the virus and/or 2-to be able to vaccinate more people because they can use a smaller dose. With the rush to develop the h1n1 vaccine, versions were made with and without adjuvants. The vaccine was an excellent match to the virus, so the adjuvant was not needed to assist immunity, just to decrease the dosage. The CDC made the decision, due to public concerns, not to use the adjuvant version in this country. That has the potential to change IF h1n1 becomes a true pandemic AND a nastier disease.

All vaccines are not bad, but some are better than others. Most of the diseases they fight against are pretty nasty, and where there are pockets of our population who have decided against vaccination, there have been new outbreaks of these diseases, diseases that were nearly eradicated in this country.

I travel a lot for work, my daughter goes to an urban school, we also vacation out of this country, these are 3 major exposure paths. Plus, my daughter fell on the playground on the weekend this summer. Swine flu was at its hysterical peak, and I had to take her to the emergency room. Some tiny baby was vomiting all night on the other side of a curtain separating the baby from my daughter. Turns out the baby was having febrile seizures, but I don't know what had caused its fever. Whatever it was, my daughter didn't catch anything that time.

No matter how hard you try to isolate yourself, your kids are going to come in contact with all sorts of disease-vectors. I'm sure you have weighed these risks in your decision, and I am not trying to change your mind. Vaccinating is a very tough decision for a lot of us. I felt I had a good relationship with my daughter's early pediatricians and that we could have honest discussions about any of the vaccines I was concerned with. In addition I did a lot of on-line research. I made the decision that was right for my family, based on the lifestyle we enjoy. If we were locked away in a bubble, or living in an idyllic farm house miles from anyone, I might have chosen differently.

Good luck

I think its so ironic that babies all over the world are dying from diseases that we here in this country take for granted are all but irradicated thanks to immunizations. I do respect the decisions of moms to space out shots or to delay them (I myself have delayed MMR because even if there is even the slightest chance of a problem I am not willing to take it!) but since when did so many moms go to medical school? My concern with not vaccinating at all is based on moms who say they read a lot of articles yet somehow come to the conclusion that "babies injected with poisons manufactured in a lab in god knows where". These labs are monitored by the FDA not some backroom in a 3rd world country. I think there is a lot of medical stuff that won't don't yet know about and unfortunately some people do not respond well to vaccines. But as a mother, we must stay well informed but is not vaccinating our children AT ALL really the best option?

Most daycare centers and schools have requirements on vaccines as mandated by the government. In fact many daycares will not pass inspections unless they have updated vaccination records on all the children (and the employees) I would check with the daycares and school districts you plan on placing your child in to see what their specific requirements are.

Hi M.,
Please do not think that I'm being negative. While I may not agree with you, you have the right to raise your children anyway you want - I truly believe that. Having said that, I just want to give you two things to think about.

1)I don't know the laws in NJ, but in CT your children can not attend school if they have not been vaccinated. So may need to look into that.

2)Our generation, and our parents generation were all vacinated with these "poisons". If thimerisol were truly the base of autism, then we'd all be autistic! I agree with you in that I don't want my kids to have lead in their vaccines either. But most (not all) vaccines are now made without thimerisol and I couldn't live with myself if one of my sons died from a preventable disease.

I realize that all autism can't be genetic, but so many other things have changed besides vaccines. The pesticides they use on our foods, the emissions from machines that have been invented and used over the last 100 years. The list goes on.

My intent is NOT to try and change your mind or to badger you for your decision. I simply wanted to give you another point of view. I hope I haven't offended you.

I love it when people say things like "keep your unvaccinated children away from mine". if the vaccinations really work then you have nothing to worry about right? the fact is we live in america and if we have the right to things like free speech, and religion, we should also have the right to decide what chemicals get put into our children's bodies. my daughter is 3 years old and has never be vaccinated. she has also only been sick two times in her life. once with and mild ear infection and the other with bronchitis. my two best friends both vaccinate on schedule and their children are sick ALL the time. (and my child is ALWAYS around them) our immune systems have been evolving for long long time and to undermine that or put training wheels on it is like taking 20 steps backwards.

Hi M.,

I own a preschool in NJ and have dealt with concerns on vaccinations for many years. No you do not a lawyer. As one poster said you will need a letter from your clergy claiming religious exemption and possibly your doctor. I believe you will also have to put something in writing for their file. By law they cannot question your decision when claiming religious exemption. I completely understand your concerns, however have you considered just spacing out the shots. I like you have concerns about tiny babies receiving 4 different shots in one day. When my kids were little they only received a DPT and Polio shot at 3 months and then MMR at 18 months. Today there is such a huge amount of immunizations to give that I would also be concerned on how each child reacts to so many different shots put into them at one time. In my school I have 78 students and only one is not immunized. I have given the same suggestion to so many concerned parents to just space them out if you can. Many parents do not have the option because their children have to be in school so young. If you have the option of holding off school and can do it over time then that may be a safer way to go for your children. When it comes down to it this is your choice so I am just giving a suggestion. Good luck!!

You have the right to NOT vaccinate your child! Please visit www.vacinfo.org and email April Renee of Vaccine Information Coalition at ____@____.com 1800-###-###-####

Read or let her tell you her personal and tragic story that she has turned into years of advocating to parents "Educate Before You Vaccinate" She will also come to speak for free and send you free cards to pass out to educate other parents on their rights!

Just don't do it, even if it means your child will miss a few days in school until you get the documentation you need.

Hi M. - You don't need a lawyer. You need to write a letter (someone may have a "form letter")in which you are not having your childen vaccinated due to religious reasons. In other words, a religious exemption. You do not have to have your clergy person sign it. Hope one of the other Mom's has a letter you can use. This is acceptable in New Jersey. Best, I.

Just wanted to say that I don't blame you--in fact, I agree with you. I am starting to face the same questions as my son nears preschool age. One thing I don't think was pointed out was that, in NJ, you can only get a religious exemption--what that translates to is that you cannot vaccinate at all. To put it another way, if it's for religious reasons, you can't say you'll give one vaccine, but not the other--if it's for religious reasons, you are against all vaccines, period. So it's really an all or nothing approach. Either you fully vaccinate your child, or you get a religious exemption and don't vaccinate at all. I personally am not comfortable with that.

If you have trouble obtaining the religious exemption, a group of chiropractors have gotten together and started their own "religion" (in paper only, for this very reason). You can join for a few bucks and they will send you paperwork which will allow you to navigate the religious exemption issue. If you want more info, you can Google, or contact a local chiropractor. Good luck.

I do not agree with Katie. Now, I have vaccinated my children, but have opted out of several vaccines that I thought were unnecessary. Nobody knows what causes autism. I believe some kids are genetically predisposed and the thimerisol in these vaccines triggers the autism. Your kids may be the lucky ones, or otherwise. We don't know. But anyone who says, vaccines do NOt cause autism, you may find those people aren't parents of autistic kids. People who say vaccines DO cause autism, you'll find those are parents of autistic kids. Who do you trust? Neither of my kids are autistic yet I am convinced vaccines have caused autism.
Here's what happened to me once: My kids were I think three and their then pediatrician gave me the list of things they needed to be vaccinated for. I looked at the list and I said no. I wanted to take that list with me, do my research then decide because of fear of autism. He got flustered, and angry at me and said something like, they're 3, autism shows between the ages of 15 mo. and 2 years old, besides vaccines don't cause autism. We always get a mother like you once or twice a year and frankly you're putting your kids' lives at risk. Something like that. I remember he was very angry at me. In front of my children. I said how do you know vaccines don't cause of autism. He said they don't. I said, alright how about I bring you a formal letter which will state that I will hold you responsible if something happens to my children due to these vaccines, 5-10 or 20 years down the road. He said, I can't do that. I cannot guarantee something won't show up. To which I replied but you're ok saying vaccinate your kids. You're ok saying right now they should be vaccinated but you won't take any responsibility of something happens. I should also note, his office used to have a poster of a mother and child in his office that said: mothers know best. I said why do you keep that poster when you don't believe in mothers' instinct. He didn't say anything. Later when I went back to get my kids' charts from his office (yes, i switched pediatricians after that incident) the poster was gone.
You can, like others have said, get a religious exemption. Nobody can force you to vaccinate your children. Yoy may find resistance once they're of school age but with the exemption you and your kids will be fine.
This is your decision. Not your mother's, not your friends, not your pediatricians. Solely yours.
Good luck
EDIT:
a few posters are suggesting you tell people you have not vaccinated your kids, if that ends up being your decision. I am wondering why should you tell people? Unless a child has come down with something, why would you? Why would she?
Also, saying it is against religious beliefs is ethically and morally wrong? Maybe people wouldn't have to come up with excuses if parents could do what they thought is best for their child. It is ethically and morally wrong for you, or any of you, to suggest anything other than she should do what's she thinks is best for her and her children. I know, it feels safer to have all kids vaccinated all the time, 10 at a time, because that way you can make yourself feel better "well, we all did it, so i did it too.' For someone who has been screwed over and over again by the medical community, their mistakes, their oops we didn't know, i say, back off. This is the only country in the world that vaccinates for everything. Chicken pox too. I mean, come on!!!!

While I do not agree with your decision, I can sympathize with your concerns.

Your pediatrician should be presenting you with a Wavier to sign or initial each time you come to a visit and it is time to vaccinate. Do not be surprised if your pediatrician asks that you leave the practice because of your decision - and I would not blame him/her. Sorry, but as a person who works in medicine, any patient that is forcing me to practice against AAP recommendations poses a legal risk for me. A parent may deny a vaccine and then sue me for not giving it after the child gets sick, or, worse, dies when exposed to a vaccine-preventable disease. It's happened.

Second, while many schools are rejecting children who are not vaccinated - you may want to consider private schools. You can hire a lawyer, but it may be a long battle, as the schools are adhering to the law and (sorry, but I must say rightfully so) making efforts to protect the community as a whole.

Finally, and again I apologize for the unsolicited advice, and ultimately are mom and you do what you feel is best -- I have to say that BEFORE you make that final decision to really not vaccinate, do your research, and make sure that you are looking at reputable websites. There are a lot of quack sites out there that offer medical advice that is straight-up wrong. Look at BOTH sides of this controversial issue - for and against vaccinating. Try the CDC and the AAP and see what they have to say about not vaccinating your kids. As I always tell folks, the best choice you can make in the best interest of your child is a FULLY educated one.

KUDOS ANNE MARIE & M.!

To those who pass judgements thinking that you are protecting your children with vaccinations, do your research- not simply the local or governmental dept of health or CDC- THEY are POLITICAL organizations driven by politics which unfortunately now are all to often bought and they DO BLACKLIST full educational information from being released. There are conflicts of interest and ethical conflicts which occur between officers at CDC, immune manufacturers & pharmaceuticals and their research IS NOT independently tested - they go so far as to suppress the independent research from being publically widespread knowledge. WAKE UP. VACCINES DO NOT IMMUNIZE- More info is slowly becoming public knowledge about the numbers of "immunized" ie, vaccinated children later getting the diseases they were previously vaccinated for.
In Brooklyn of late, appx 70% of a group of children contracted with the measles WERE VACCINATED for it. Same issue in Chicago 1-2 years ago w/ chicken pox.
DO not pass judgement on those who have researched knowledge; inform yourself first and remain objective until you have done so.

You don't need a lawyer. You can apply for either a religious exemption or a medical exemption. In the first, your pastor has to sign the paperwork, and in the second, your physician signs. You will likely have an easier time getting a pastor to sign. Your school system (school nurse) should be able to give you the paperwork or direct you as to where to get it. I'd advise you to get this done before time to register your children for school or preschool.

I agree with Anja in that you should vaccinate slowly, many shots contain 3 different types of vaccines in one, and the doctors will push 4 shots at once!
Do the research locally, that is ask your pediatrician to see what is used for preservatives in each shot, and get no more than 2 done at once. I have
2 nephews who received 4 shots at once, and immediately reflected signs of autism. I think each child is different in how their bodies react to the shots, but why
Take the risk? Refuse to take anything less from your doctor than what you agree with but ultimately, I think you should vaccinate, even if just 1 at a time.
Not vaccinating will make your children susceptible to the awful diseases that vaccinations are meant to prevent, as well as pose a risk to other children.
Demand to know exactly what is being injected into your child and know the risks! If you go in with all the knowledge, you can make a more informed decision.
Good luck!

Hi M.,
This site may help you to vaccinate your children but safely.
http://www.askdrsears.com/thevaccinebook
Good Luck

try mother's holistic or mom's holistic network. they can get you in touch with someone in your area about it for school purposes. however, if you are looking to day care or nursery school or any other private schooling, they have the right not to accept your child into thier program. so you may want to check out these locales anonamously (sp?) to find out the answers. oh, one more thing. if you ever choose to get your child vaccinated, then make sure that you get one vaccine at a time and not bundled together. this may require the pediatrician ordering them for you, you paying more out of pocket fees to the dr. but it's better for the kid in case of any reaction.

Hmm...I know there are certain religions who are against doctors and shots. Not sure of the legistics involved.

I refuse to get a flu shot or have my kids get them due to them causing us more illnesses after.

Check on the net or with a lawyer to ask. Let us know what you found out. I am curious now.

Hi M.! You do not need vaccinations to send your child to school. You DO NOT have to cite religious convictions to opt out.

To all of you who say to let people know if you don't vaccinate, please educate yourselves because you sound like fools. Children do not "carry" these diseases naturally. Unvaccinated children are at RISK from YOUR VACCINATED CHILD. There are some vaccines that stay in fecal matter for 3 weeks making your child a carrier of that disease. Educate yourselves and don't get angry at those of us who do hours of study and research to make a choice for our kids.

M., I highly recommend that you read everything you can by Dr. Sherri Tenpenny. www.drtenpenny.com is a great start. I have read her books and she is a great resource.

Autism is not the only concern for vaccines. Thimerosol is STILL a neurotoxing and it is STILL widely used. Also, MSG, aluminum, formaldyhyde.....the list goes on.

I highly recommend that you do A LOT of research. I can give you more book recommendations if you like.

I am so sorry that women here have not respected your question. They have no business stating their opinion if it's not asked of them. You did not ask for opinions, you asked for facts and you have EVERY RIGHT to protect your child and you will NOT be endangering anyone for having not vaccinated.

I know you have already had a ton of responses. I have read them all and they seem to be offering advice one way or another, so I thought I would put in my two cents too!! Let me first say that I do not know what the laws require in NJ, but some others seemed to, so if you continue to decide to not vaccinate, follow their advice. I am just here to offer my position on vaccines, from a special ed teacher (who specializes in Autism!) point of view. I debated through my whole first pregnancy whether or not to vaccinate my children. This was five years ago and the research at the time was 50-50 on whether or not vaccines caused Autism, or so I thought!! I had been caring for twins whose mother SWORE vaccines caused her sons Autism - but they were very ill when they had gotten the vaccines, in particular the MMR. I took all of my research to my doctor. He gave me more research and was very understanding. I took it all home and read it all. He had also told me that he respected my decision, but if I decided not to vaccinate (other than Chicken Pox because that one is not a serious disease) that he would not be able to be my doctor. I respected him enough that I decided to go ahead with the vaccines. My doctor does what I think every doctor should do though...he spaces out vaccines so my kids only get 2 shots at a time. He also uses only Thimerisol free shots. As a side note, that is what used to be the threat for Autism was the combination of the MMR vaccine in particular combined with the thimerisol (mercury) preservative. Now I believe (and you can do more research of course), that NO MMR vaccines contain Thimerisol.

I made these decisions before I went to grad school and specialized in Autism. I read SOOOOO much research and had wonderful professors who had done their own research. Nothing that I read that was current (mind you, you have to take anything more than a few years old into consideration because thimerisol was used more regularly back then) pointed to vaccines being related to Autism. Autism is actually thought to have many different causes, some environmental, some possibly genetic. I also personally agree with another woman who said that Autism is WAY overdiagnosed as of late. Part of it is that our training is better and we are catching more signs of Autism. Part of it is that I think that we are not looking deeper into the causes of these symptoms. Perfect example is a friend of mine's step son. If I were to evaluate him, I would say that hands down he had Autism. However, by some stroke of luck he had a full genetic testing done (which I don't think is done enough) and they found that two of his chromosomes were actually switched. I have to wonder how many more cases of "Autism" are actually something similar?!

Ok, that was way longer than intended, but I wanted you to know my opinion from the standpoint of mother and special ed teacher. I hope that gives you at least a better view on Autism - which it sounds like is your main reason for not vaccinating.

Hi M.,
Different states offer different options, such as religious exemption or philosophical exemption. If you are in NY, there are religious but not philosophical exemptions. I don't believe that you must produce a statement from your church or synagogue or anything like that, but I do believe that you must decline ALL vaccines to claim to exemption, you can't vaccinate selectively.
I did have my kids get the "school mandated" vaccines, some at a delayed pace and if I had tiny ones now, I'd never do these five at a time vaccines. I never did any of the "optional" vaccines other than season flu shot for my asthmatic kid.
Good luck

Your mother is correct. Schools will not admit your children without vaccinations with two exceptions:
1. A documented medical condition that would be exacerbated by a vaccination (metabolic or heart conditions)
2. A genuine religious practice that prohibits vaccination.

That's it, and you need to have proof of either condition.

I'm not a doctor, but have done extensive research on this particular topic as part of my job-related legal study. We have reviewed our Board of Ed policy recently and it was my responsibility to compile the legal resesarch and write the report with our attorneys.

- There is no medical documentation that indicates that Autism is caused by a vaccination. At best, the relationship is correlational meaning that most children demonstrated symptoms around 18-24 months, which is also the same range as vaccination.
- Vaccines have been successful in eliminating deadly and crippling diseases in our country. If you elect not to have your children vaccinated, you are potentially exposing them to some serious complications.
- There is a school of thought that is widely considered within the diagnostic community that there aren't more "cases" of Autism, but that the diagnostic criteria is more broad and encompassing than before. Also keep in mind that 100 years ago, children who were likely Autistic were diagnosed with schizophrenia and institutionalized.

You need to make the best decision you can for your children, but keep in mind that they will be citizens of the world for the rest of their lives. Without vaccines, they will not be permitted to travel out of the country, will have difficulty attending school and most importantly will be susceptible to severe medical conditions.

If Autism runs in your family, talk with your pediatrician. Don't believe what you read on the internet b/c lots of that info is from moms like us who have strong opinions, but not a medical background. If you elect not to vaccinate your child, be prepared with a solid argument when it's time to register for school. Also keep in mind that private preschools, daycares and schools are most likely going to say "no" simply b/c they have to worry about the health of the entire community.

Good luck.

You can exempt your child from the manditory vaccinations in schools vby submitting a simple letter to the district. I did. My child does not get the seasonal flu vaccine every year as is now "mandatory" in NJ for all school kids, but she goes to school anyway. There is a religious exemption clause. You only have to simply state that vaccination is against your religious beliefs and you will therefor be exempt from submitting a vaccination record in order to register your child from school. You can have some vaccinations if you choose to and others not. It would be up to you, but by submitting this letter, you don't have to provide any of that info to the school and they cannot discriminate against your child because of it. Email me your email address and I can send you a copy of the letter with the correct wording and references to the legislature that backs it up. I would be happy to help you with ____@____.com BY THE WAY,, as another person responded before, I do not consider it a lie at all, because if you believe in God at all, then you are religious, and it is my religious belief that a mother and father are given this child by God and they are solely responsible for making decisions regarding the health of their child. In other words, it is against my religious beliefs to be forced to administer a vaccine which I believe may be harmful to my child because God has given her to me and put her in my care and I make my parenting decisions between me my husband and God, and for someone to pass a law that undermines those decisions is against my religious freedom. Even people who don't believe in GOD per se, have religious rights, because religion is a personal mindset, not an affiliation with a certain organized group. which is why you are not required to state what affiliation you are or have it signed by anyone in a certain religion.

Hi M.:

As a parent you have the right to decide what you think and feel is best for your children. There are certain guidelines, in the school system and society, that you will need to face as your children are out in the world. Continue to research!!!

In making that decision, I still strongly advise you to seek alternative methods to strengthen your children's immunity and health. Consider Dietary changes, Homeopathy, Aromatherapy, Herbal Care; these are options my company can assist you with, via consultations.

Contact the office at ###-###-#### and visit webpage www.wholecreations.com/wombfull.html to schedule an appointment.

All the best,
N.
Holistic Healthcare Provider

it scares me to hear that your children may not be vacciated because it may affect my children - i urge you to consider your own peditrician's take on this. how does he/she feel?

They cannot go to school w/o vaccines, but you can homeschool. That would be your only option. I understand your concern because I have struggled with it. The thought of my kids not being protected from polio and other life threatening and debilitating diseases scared me more. I would not be able to live with myself if my child's life was ruined because of a disease that could have been prevented. The concern with vaccines was with the mercury which has been taken out of them. They have done test and are not seeing a correlation of the autism with vaccines.

I know the school systems are trying to warp us into thinking that they actually own our children and we have to do what they say. If you do not want to vaccinate your children....then don't. Unfortunately, you will need to start early with the notices or get your waivers ready ahead of time because they will try to encourage you otherwise. Let them know you have researched it and that you know what you are talking about because chances are the admitting clerk doesn't know the rules. I vaccinated my children when they were born because I didn't know any better. They will not receive the swine flu or normal flu vaccination this year. Or any year that I am able to control it. They need to realize that our children are just that.....OUR CHILDREN.

Dear M.,
my son has autism and I wish I had been as clever as you are. Nevertheless, I am not totally anti-vaccine and if you do more research you will find that many so-called "anti-vaccine activists" have exactly the same position that I have, which is to vaccinate less and vaccinate slow. The problem with today's vaccine schedule is "too soon, too many". There are some vaccinations that I would definitely consider giving, some others like Hep B, influenza, H1N1 or chickenpox not, unless your boys have serious health conditions. A great website to find suggestions for alternative vaccination schedules and lots of more information is Generation Rescue.

For the religious excemption here in NJ, you don't need a signature from your pastor, you just need to write a letter to the school. Private schools and preschools have a choice if they accept students that are not vaccinated, but all public schools and preschools have to accept your choice.

One mother replied that our generation received "the same" vaccines when we were young. That is not true. In 1983, for children birth to 6 years, the recommended vaccine schedule included a total of 10 shots. Today, in the same time frame 36 shots are recommended. http://www.generationrescue.org/pdf/cdc_comparison.pdf

Also, if you take a closer look, the often repeated mantra that "is has been proven that vaccines do not cause autism" can easily be picked apart. Go to www.14studies.org, it lists all studies that have some relation to autism and vaccines and discusses what was really studied and, more important, what not.

One more problem that you might be facing is to find a pediatrician that is willing to accept your vaccination choice. Unfortunately many pediatrician will pressure you to leave their practice if you don't vaccinate. Start asking around, especially parents that have kids with autism, and find a pediatrician who is willing to work with you.

I wish you and your boys all the best and hope that I could help you, if you have any more questions, do not hesitate to contact me.

A.

Good for you!!! I would suggest you join the Vaccinations Yahoo Group and also buy Neil Z Miller's book. Everything you need is there. The group will give you resources for wherever you live. School is not an issue. There is far more at stake than just autism.

Mom is wrong this time. Stick to your choice and don't let anyone sway you. Tell anyone who tries to first watch Are Vaccines Safe? (can be watched free on Google videos). Tell them to try and prove it wrong and if they can--only then will you be willing to discuss it with them.

99.99 or more percent of people do not understand vaccines. I used to work for a doctor and you can trust me when I say that most doctors don't vaccinate themselves but they will push patients to do so. I guess when you have a lot of money invested in your education and practice you can't just throw it all away but as we say "buyer beware"---this applies to all forms of medical care too. You are ultimately responsible. Not your mother or anyone else.