N.J. parents should have vaccine choices

New Jersey parents have a right to protect their children and should have the authority to make all of their medical decisions. However, that's not the case in New Jersey, where children attending any public or private school are currently required to have 35 doses of 13 vaccines, most of which are manufactured with neurotoxins and carcinogens such as formaldehyde, thimerosal and aluminum.

The New Jersey government mandates more vaccines than any other state in the country and is the first government in the world to mandate annual flu shots for school children starting at the age of 6 months old and meningococcal vaccinations for sixth-graders.

When there are more recorded deaths of children who have had the meningococcal vaccination than there have been deaths of children from meningitis, we have to ask ourselves if the vaccines are about protecting kids or about helping vaccine manufacturers that made contributions to politicians.

New Jersey legislators who care about children's health and parental rights have to support the passage of A260/S1071, legislation that would provide a conscientious belief exemption to mandatory vaccination. Conscientious objection would give parents greater control over which and how many shots their children get.

Currently, New Jersey parents can apply for medical or religious exemptions to vaccinations. However, medical exemptions are difficult to prove, because they do not take into account family health history or whether a sibling had a reaction to a vaccine. Religious exemptions are easier to acquire but preclude children from receiving any vaccinations. Therefore, parents declaring religious exemptions from flu shots also have to refrain from giving their children all other vaccinations as well.

New Jersey legislators should realize that supporters of conscientious objection are not necessarily anti-vaccinations and often have their children fully or partly vaccinated. They should also take into account that 19 other states in the country already have conscientious objection exemption from vaccinations.

Legislators should also push for more independent research on mandated vaccines, because vaccine related injuries have cost the federal government $980 million, and the numbers of children with autism, juvenile diabetes and other vaccine-related injuries have skyrocketed as the mandates have increased.

There is a need for certain vaccinations, but these injections need to be clean of toxic ingredients and administered with regard to individual health issues. And as long as the state requires parents to vaccinate their schoolchildren, legislators should do their due diligence to ensure that these vaccinations are safe.