Massachusetts needs strong vaccine policy now.
This session, Massachusetts legislators have the opportunity to protect our children from deadly outbreaks of vaccine-preventable disease by supporting SD 1391 and HD 604. The bills will eliminate loopholes in our school-ready vaccine laws while protecting the right of every parent to make the best decision for their child in partnership with their healthcare provider. Every child has the right to attend school safely, free from the threat posed by diseases that can be prevented by routine vaccines.
Massachusetts law protects school-aged children from diphtheria, tetanus, measles, rubella, polio, chicken pox, and meningococcal meningitis. COVID-19 and influenza (flu) vaccines are not required.
SD 1391 and HD 604 uphold the right of parents to choose whether their children will be vaccinated, and it allows healthcare providers to provide exemptions based on medical standards. The effects of vaccine-preventable diseases can be serious and chronic, including pneumonia, encephalitis (brain swelling), heart failure, seizures, blood infection, development disabilities, stroke, hearing or vision loss, hospitalization, and death.
Religious loopholes to school-ready vaccine requirements are not supported by the tenets of any major faith group. Vaccination is endorsed by top Jewish and Islamic scholars, by the Vatican, and by other major Christian sects including Methodist, Lutheran, Presbyterian, Mormon, and Episcopalian. Jehovah’s Witnesses and Christian Scientists do not prohibit vaccines. Religious authorities have meticulously studied how vaccines are made and what is in them, and have ruled that they do not violate Jewish, Islamic, or Catholic law.
SD 1391 and HD 604 strengthen the safety of schools and daycares by ensuring that children who attend are up to date on required immunizations. The bills do this by only allowing medical reasons for not immunizing; religious exemptions would no longer be permitted. The bills do NOT mandate immunization.
“The right to practice religion freely does not include liberty to expose the community or child to communicable disease or the latter to ill health or death.”