Front-page headlines about questionable research, corporate manipulations, purchased politicians, medical cover-ups and whistleblower reports have left Americans feeling hoodwinked and skeptical. According to a new Pew Research Center study, the public doesn’t trust the information they’re fed on issues such as genetically engineered crops and now, mandatory vaccines.

The current state of distrust of scientific statistics and their impact on our lives doesn’t bode well for lawmakers attempting to build consensus for uniform mandatory vaccination intervention. The current rush to pass such legislation is largely due to 169 cases of measles reported between January 4 and April 17, encompassing 20 states and the District of Columbia, all traced to a traveler infected overseas that then visited a California amusement park.

Common sense and independent research counters the stance that would rob individuals of their moral right to conscientious, philosophical and personal-belief exemption from being subjected to vaccines. Hard evidence in a plethora of published studies further identifies genetic factors that could cause the development of adverse effects to vaccines.

Yet, “There is no available evidence on vaccines’ effectiveness that is placebo-controlled, plus the health effects of vaccines in combination have never been studied, certainly not the 69 total doses of 16 types of vaccines given to children starting 12 hours after birth through age 18,” says Sayer Ji, a member of the National Health Federation board of governors and founder of GreenMedInfo.com.

Mandatory vaccines pose the latest affront to citizens’ right to informed self-government.

“Vaccine risks for anyone can range from zero to 100 percent, depending upon one’s genes, microbiome DNA, environment, age and health at the time of vaccination and the type and number of vaccines given,” advises Barbara Loe Fisher, president and co-founder of the nonprofit National Vaccine Information Center, headquartered in Vienna, Virginia.

“Vaccines are not safe or effective for everyone because we’re not all the same and we don’t all respond the same way to pharmaceutical products,” says Fisher. She notes that responses to infectious diseases and the risk for complications can also vary, depending upon similar factors.

Among the most prominent warnings on vaccine ingredients, concerned doctors, researchers and medical whistleblowers cite dangers of the toxin thimerosal, a mercury-containing preservative used in some vaccines and vaccine adjuvants such as aluminum gels or aluminum salts added to elicit a stronger immune response against the germ the vaccine introduces into our body.

What to Ask Before Vaccinating
Vaccines are pharmaceutical products that carry risks. The National Vaccine Information Center encourages parents to become fully informed about the potential risks and disease complications for their own children and pose these questions to one or more trusted healthcare professionals before making a decision.
• Am I, or my child, sick right now?
• Have I, or my child, had a bad reaction to a vaccination before?
• Do I, or my child, have a personal or family history of vaccine reactions, neurological disorders, severe allergies or immune system problems?
• Do I know the disease and vaccine risks for my child or myself?
• Do I have full information about the vaccine’s side effects?
• Do I know how to identify and report a vaccine reaction?
• Will I have a written record, including the vaccine manufacturer’s name and lot number, for all vaccinations?
• Am I convinced that I have the right to make an informed choice?

Visit nvic.org for information on recognizing vaccine-reaction symptoms.

Leading books citing telling research include Thimerosal: Let the Science Speak, by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Dr. Mark Hyman; Vaccines: What CDC Documents and Science Reveal, by Dr. Sherri Tenpenny; Vaccine Epidemic, by Louise Kuo Habakus; and Science for Sale, by David L. Lewis, Ph.D. Top film documentaries include Shots in the Dark; Vaccination: The Hidden Truth; Trace Amounts; The Greater Good; and Vaccine Nation.

Bought: The Hidden Story Behind Vaccines, Big Pharma and Your Food resulted from two years of investigative research in disaster medical management by Toni Bark, now an integrative physician. In interviews with practicing doctors, research scientists, former pharmaceutical sales representatives, attorneys and others, Bark exposes serious conflicts of interest. These include vaccine research funding, hiring between pharmaceutical and chemical industries and their government regulating agencies, sponsored scientific propaganda used to silence critics, and large-scale corruption within the billion-dollar vaccine industry. Plus, it points out problems with the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act of 1986 that Congress passed to give drug manufacturers, the government and physicians protection from lawsuits arising from injuries caused by childhood vaccines.

Vaccines are not responsible for the eradication of diseases such as polio and smallpox.
~U.S. Centers for Disease Control database

“Since 1988, thousands of children and adults in America that have suffered brain inflammation and other long-recognized vaccine reactions have been collectively awarded $3 billion in vaccine injury compensation. There are thousands more that have been unable to secure federal compensation for their vaccine injuries,” reports Fisher.

“At least 25,000 to 30,000 reports of vaccine reactions are filed annually with the Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System, operated by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control,” says Tenpenny. “Underreporting is a substantial problem. It’s estimated that less than 1 percent of all adverse events from drugs and vaccines are reported.” VaccineResearchLibrary.com cites 7,200 journal articles and studies that expose the harm caused by vaccines.

“Knowledge is empowering and personal discernment is priceless. The facts challenge the health claims by government health agencies and pharmaceutical firms that vaccines are perfectly safe,” says Ji. “Public doubt, distrust and skepticism are rational and natural consequences.”

For more information, visit the National Vaccine Information Center at nvic.org and the coalition of citizen advocates at NationalHealthFreedom.org.

Connect with writer Linda Sechrist at ItsAllAboutWe.com.