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U.S. NEWS Friday 14 June 2019

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New York ends religious exemption to vaccine mandates

By DAVID KLEPPER in the Torah, the Bible, the was a real threat,” said As-
Associated Press Koran or anything else that semblywoman Deborah
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — New suggests you should not get Glick, D-Manhattan.
York eliminated the reli- vaccinated,” said Bronx “I believe in science.... Your
gious exemption to vac- Democrat Jeffrey Dinowitz, personal opinions, which
cine requirements for the bill’s Assembly sponsor. may be based on junk sci-
schoolchildren Thursday, “If you choose to not vac- ence, do not trump the
as the nation’s worst mea- cinate your child, there- greater good.”
sles outbreak in decades fore potentially endanger- Supporters also suggest
prompts states to recon- ing other children ... then some parents may be
sider giving parents ways you’re the one choosing claiming the religious ex-
to opt out of immunization not to send your children to emption for their children
rules. school.” even though their opposi-
The Democrat-led Senate Hundreds of parents of un- tion is actually based on
and Assembly voted Thurs- vaccinated children gath- scientifically discredited
day to repeal the exemp- ered at New York’s Capitol claims about the dangers
tion, which allows parents for the vote to protest. of vaccines.
to cite religious beliefs to Stan Yung, a Long Island The bill would not change
forego getting their child attorney and father, said an existing state exemp-
the vaccines required for his Russian Orthodox re- tion given to children who
school enrollment. ligious views and health cannot have vaccines for
Gov. Andrew Cuomo, concerns about vaccines medical reasons, such as
a Democrat, signed the will prevent him from vac- a weakened immune sys-
measure minutes after the cinating his three young tem. Cuomo told reporters In this March 27, 2019 file photo, a woman receives a measles,
final vote. children. His family, he said, on Wednesday that he be- mumps and rubella vaccine at the Rockland County Health
The law takes effect im- may consider leaving the lieves public health — and Department in Pomona, N.Y., north of New York City.
Associated Press
mediately but will give un- state. the need to protect those
vaccinated students up to “People came to this coun- who cannot get vaccinat- munities. exemption earlier this year.
30 days after they enter try to get away from exact- ed because for medical California removed person- Mississippi and West Virginia
a school to show they’ve ly this kind of stuff,” Yung reasons — outweighs the al belief vaccine exemp- also do not allow religious
had the first dose of each said ahead of Thursday’s concerns about religious tions for children in both exemptions.
required immunization. votes. freedom. public and private schools Once common in the U.S.,
With New York’s move, sim- Supporters of the bill say “I understand freedom of in 2015, after a measles measles became rare af-
ilar exemptions are still al- religious beliefs about vac- religion,” he said. “I have outbreak at Disneyland ter vaccination campaigns
lowed in 45 states, though cines shouldn’t eclipse sci- heard the anti-vaxxers’ sickened 147 people and that started in the 1960s.
lawmakers in several of entific evidence that they theory, but I believe both spread across the U.S. and A decade ago, there were
them have introduced work, noting the U.S. Su- are overwhelmed by the into Canada. fewer than 100 cases a
their own legislation to preme Court ruled in 1905 public health risk.” Maine ended its religious year.q
eliminate the waiver. that states have the right to The current measles out-
The issue is hotly contested enforce compulsory vacci- break has renewed con-
and debate around it has nation laws. cern about the exemptions
often been emotional, During the Assembly’s in many states.
pitting cries that religious floor debate, supporters The nation last saw as many
freedom is being curtailed brought up scourges of the cases in 1992, when more
against warnings that pub- past that were defeated in than 2,200 were reported.
lic health is being endan- the U.S. through vaccines. The majority of cases are
gered. “I’m old enough to have from outbreaks in New York A great opportunity exist to work in a dynamic
After the vote in the Assem- been around when polio in Orthodox Jewish com- company, for compelling, ambitious individuals.
bly, many of those watch- We have openings for;
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The debate has only inten- Jewelry Appraiser
sified with this year’s mea-
sles outbreak , which feder-
al officials recently said has
surpassed 1,000 illnesses,
the highest in 27 years.
“I’m not aware of anything