Citing concerns for the their young patients’ safety, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia fired five employees for refusing the standard flu vaccine this year. The fired workers all claim their religions are at the root of their refusal to be vaccinated, and that they offered to wear flu masks.
The hospital said they asked employees who refused the shot to sign a waiver citing medical or religious reasons. A panel then looked at those claims, accepted some and rejected others based on past vaccination records; however, according to one report, this is the first year the hospital required that every employee get vaccinated. The fired employees said
they either don’t recall getting other shots or have chosen not to recently due to new religious beliefs.
I am hugely for religious freedom, and believe firmly that we have the right to control our bodies; that is actually what pro-choice ultimately means–the right to control one’s body based on one’s spiritual and moral beliefs. I wonder how many of the fired employees would see that ppoint, that they’re actually standing up for abortion rights. And I wonder if the media which has been following this story would get that, and if conservatives who scream about government interference in our lives don’t see the cognitive dissonance. But expect this story to evolve some sort of analogy for religious persecution, socialist medicine, death panels and so forth. When really it’s about the right to control one’s body in all ways.
So about the fired employees: Terminated worker Rodney Bond said:
I am a herbalist. I have never had a flu shot. It goes against my belief system. That is a spiritual principle for me. How can my employer say it’s not. Who on that board is spiritual enough to make that decision?
Khadijah Muhammad who was also fired:
I’m just standing up for what I believe in and it’s hard, it really is.
I am a Christian, and my religion prohibits me from receiving vaccines.
Her husband Gary added:
We really have this strong belief. If it wasn’t that strong I would never jeopardize my job, knowing I have five kids, a wife, a mortgage. That’s how deeply we feel about this.
CHOP said it offered the employees opportunities to apply for medical and religious exemptions but not exemptions based on
personally held beliefs.
CHOP spokeswoman Peggy Flynn said:
Every request was given a careful evaluation. They had to show sincerely held religious beliefs.
Originally nine employees refused the standard flu vaccine. After the cases were reviewed, four were granted exemptions; the remaining five were not, and were given the opportunity to get the shots once their claims were rejected, or be fired. CHOP said in a statement:
Our seasonal flu vaccine policy is stronger than most hospitals in our region – and it should be, because we care for the sickest of sick children. Many of the children in our care have never had a chance to have a seasonal flu vaccine themselves so we have to do it for them. Many of our patients are either too young or their immune systems are too weak.
Gary McCormick and official from District 1199C of the Hospital and Health Care Employees Union countered:
We’re at a loss in terms of how does an institution make a determination of somebody’s spiritual and religious beliefs and say, ‘For you it’s OK, but for you it’s not OK.’
The union is taking this to arbitration and asking for reinstatement and back wages.
The majority of religions allow for vaccination; even Jehovah’s Witnesses permit individuals to make the decision for themselves. Obviously the CHOP review board took some employees’ religious stances seriously, since four out nine were exempted. Wouldn’t a letter from one’s congregational leader stating that their particular sect finds vaccines spiritually wrong because of whatever, would have sufficed. In the case of Bond, who claimed in 30 years of employment at CHOP never to have been vaccinated would have been proof of his spiritual beliefs.
So what gives? And do self-held beliefs supersede the greater good? And is that the argument anti-choicers will be using regarding abortion–that the greater good good of America’s salvation and God’s blessings supersede each woman’s right to choose contraception in whatever form, be it abstinence, pregnancy prevention or abortion?
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
RT @NJAICV Childrens Hospital Workers Fired Over #Flu Shot Refusal, Claim Religious Rights #VaccineChoice
Vaccines in the News 12/08
Swine flu vaccine victims encouraged to post reports of side effects on SwineFluVaccineReport.com
http://www.naturalnews.com/027180_swine_flu_swine_flu_vaccine_side_effects.html
[12/8](http://tinyurl.com/ybue6y3) Most Britons Reject Swine Flu Vaccine (Mercola)
[12/8](http://tinyurl.com/ygprofm) medically Caused Death in America
[12/8](http://tinyurl.com/yexeepu) Harvard and CNN Report on Lower than Expected H1N1 Vaccine Uptake (AoA)
[12/8](http://tinyurl.com/y8az2rw) $300K to Banyan Communications from Advisory Commission on Childhood Vaccines? (AoA)
[12/7](http://tinyurl.com/ykrnyec) Study confirms low mortality for swine flu (Reuters)
[12/7](http://tinyurl.com/ygt8hut) Oops. Flu Pandemic May Be The Mildest since Modern Medicine Began Tracking (AoA)
[12/7](http://tinyurl.com/ylsoday) Tamiflu Boosts H1N1 Virus Infectivity In Vitro
[12/7](http://tinyurl.com/yzz8np5) Administration pushes swine flu vaccines in ads (WashPost)
[12/7](http://tinyurl.com/yd8dq9s) Swine-flu bribe fever!
[12/7](http://tinyurl.com/ya5xvpq) Grassley Wants Payment Data from AMA and Others (Pharmalot)
[12/7](http://tinyurl.com/yf83z6f) Parents Continue to Support Dr Wakefield
[12/7](http://tinyurl.com/yjqgh8b) Dr. Paul Offit on National Public (Health) Radio (AoA)
[12/7](http://tinyurl.com/yf68dda) Kickin' the Tires of the Green Vaccine Initiative (AoA)
[12/7](http://tinyurl.com/yf2kpw3) The H1N1 vaccine debacle
[12/7](http://tinyurl.com/ybv8oe9) As CDC Kicks Off National Influenza Vaccination Week, It Is More Important than Ever to Take Preventative Measures Against Cold & Flu
Sunday, December 6, 2009
Facts About Water Fluoridation and Action Alert for NJ
Reposted from http://lifehealthchoices.com
ATTENTION: ALL CONCERNED CITIZENS
Tell Lawmakers No Forced Fluoridation
Did You Know?
Fluoride Should Not Be Forced Upon US Citizens!
From Mary DeBonis, parent activist
For more information
Clean Water Campaign - Why is Water Fluoridation Bad For New Jersey? (Clean Water Action) Bill to mandate NJ's public water pits natural allies against each other (New Jersey Monthly) 6/8/09
Assembly Committee Clears Bill to Allow Fluoride to NJ Drinking Water (Fluoride Action Network) 2/9/09
Vaccines in the News 12/6
[12/5](http://tinyurl.com/yjo9adm) Mounting Debilities and Deaths from H1N1 Vaccine (Mercola)
[12/5](http://tinyurl.com/ylgrmcv) School nurses' role expands with increasing demand
[12/5](http://tinyurl.com/ygr39cu) Drop in H1N1 vaccine demand spurs warning from Hunterdon County
[12/4](http://tinyurl.com/yjte4eh) Healthcare "reform" and vaccines
[12/4](http://tinyurl.com/yd43o6f) Michael Aschner & Sandra Ceccatelli: Sins of Omission Regarding Thimerosal
[12/4](http://tinyurl.com/ygtymsy) Chickenpox vaccine may protect kids from shingles
[12/4](http://tinyurl.com/yllfahd) From a Concerned Aunt
[12/4](http://tinyurl.com/ya74hk7) Further Study Of Antipsychotic Effects On Kids: FDA (Pharmalot)
[12/4](http://tinyurl.com/yhahqfc) Zyprexa and Seroquel Get FDA Approval For Use In Adolescents
[12/4](http://tinyurl.com/ychectd) Glaxo's swine flu shot may give kids fever (AP)
[12/3](http://tinyurl.com/ybzlfjd) Quick Compare - Vaccinated vs Unvaccinated
[12/3](http://tinyurl.com/yddhbay) After Delays, Vaccine to Counter Bad Beef Is Being Tested (NYTimes)
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Vaccines in the News 12/3
[12/2](http://tinyurl.com/yhf22l2) Family medical issues — how are they decided?
[12/2](http://tinyurl.com/yfqn4nx) Dear VaccinesSaveLives (LHC)
[12/2](http://tinyurl.com/ybvtok8) Swine Flu Recedes, Vaccine Supply Grows
[12/2](http://tinyurl.com/yhdkgz7) Call in for Advisory Commission on Childhood Vaccines 12/3 and 12/4 (AoA)
[11/27](http://tinyurl.com/y9tu5yh) Experts Say Swine Flu Mutations Do Not Warrant New Alarm (NYTimes)
[11/25](http://tinyurl.com/yhdp2x2) Novartis inaugurates influenza vaccine manufacturing facility in Holly Springs
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Vaccines in the News 12/2
[12/2](http://tinyurl.com/yl37tfg) Autism and Adulthood, the Looming Future (AoA)
[12/2](http://tinyurl.com/ylr2q4b) To Vaccinate Or Not To Vaccinate?
[12/1](http://tinyurl.com/yd96eyg) How Vaccines Cause Autoimmune Conditions
[12/1](http://tinyurl.com/yj4756z) 8 Year Old Dutch Boy Dead After MMR and DTP
[11/30](http://tinyurl.com/y9vjfzv) Dr. Paul Offit: Pope Of The Church Of The Immaculate Vaccination (HuffPo)
[11/30](http://tinyurl.com/yhs45y4) Governments Spend Swine Flu Panic Billions On Common Cold (Globe and Mail)
[11/25](http://tinyurl.com/yjucp4y) Iowa and North Carolina Reports Raise Fears H1N1 Mutations Have Reached United States
[11/23](http://tinyurl.com/yee8jfl) Back Bay doc held in kid sex case (BostonHerald)






