On Aug. 27, the members of the Parental Freedom Coalition stood outside the Massachusetts State House to oppose Bill H.3999. The 75-degree day brought around 20 people to rally against the bill. Facing the Boston Common, each member of the group held signs. One stated, “Vaccine Manufacturers Are Exempt From Liability.” Another said, “In God We Trust, Not Pharma.” Two more listed ingredients found in vaccines and “$4 Billion+ Paid Out By US Gov For Vaccine Injuries & Death.”
One of the leaders, Samantha Turgeon, said: “In Massachusetts you can only get a religious exemption to vaccination to go to public school. We don’t have the personal or philosophical exemption. So today we stand to oppose based on the fact that—I like to say conscious is God’s voice. So, if you have a child that got injured by a vaccine or you read about vaccines and you find it doesn’t agree with your own conscious and you don’t want to do it, I believe that’s a sincere religious belief and a reason to oppose.”
Turgeon went on to say, “Section 13.1 of every single vaccine insert says that, ‘Vaccines are not evaluated for carcinogenic potential, immunogenic potential, or potential to impair fertility.’ None of them. They don’t go through double blind, saline placebo studies.”
After discussing how the FDA approves medications, Elizabeth Bourgeois, a member, said, “In 1986 they were deemed exempt—the manufacturers, no liabilities—simultaneous pretty much to that, a $4 billion fund was set up by the government to pay out vaccine injuries. So they act, not parallel to the FDA, but completely on their own, without having to create the same rigors that the FDA does to take drugs to market.” Bourgeois continued, “So, where I’m coming from is we’re not all biologically the same, and the purge that’s currently in place is a one-size fits all approach to vaccines.”
The (H.R.5546) National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act of 1986 does state, “Provides that no vaccine manufacturer shall be liable in a civil action for damages arising from a vaccine-related injury or death: (1) resulting from unavoidable side effects; or (2) solely due to the manufacturer’s failure to provide direct warnings. Provides that a manufacturer may be held liable where: (1) such manufacturer engaged in the fraudulent or intentional withholding of information; or (2) such manufacturer failed to exercise due care. Permits punitive damages in such civil actions under certain circumstances.”
At the State House, Turgeon, Bourgeois, and other members of the coalition handed out two packets to passersby. One was titled, “Vaccines: What About Immunocompromised Schoolchildren?” The other stated, “We Oppose Bill H3999” with the subtitle, “Religious Freedom and Vaccination.” All in all, the Parental Freedom Coalition is looking for informed consent and the option to opt out of vaccines no matter what a person’s beliefs are.
This bill was originally presented by Massachusetts State Representative Andres X. Vargas. He was not able to be reached for comment.