The Return of Measles & Mumps Viruses After 19 Years Sparks New Vaccination Legislation

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention says there has been 764 cases of reported measles in 2019. In the state of Colorado there has been 1 reported case however Colorado has the lowest vaccination rate and legislator failed to pass a bill mandating vaccinations state wide.

In 22 other states, new born parents are afraid to leave their homes because exposure to measles and mumps leads to a 90 percent chance of infection. The virus can live for up to two hours in the air where an infected person coughed or sneezed. Colorado has the nation’s lowest kindergarten vaccination rates for diseases like measles, mumps and rubella, according to the CDC. U.S. Since 1994, measles was declared eliminated in 2000.

On the national vaccination information website it states; On April 12, 2017 CACHED (Colorado Dept. of Public Health and Environment) and CDE (Colorado Dept. of Education) issued a statement clarifying that a parent/guardian or emancipated student or student over the age of 18 may submit their own signed statement of religious or personal belief exemption to vaccination to the school. Also on August 1, 2017 CDE (Colorado Dept. of Education) sent a letter to Colorado Superintendents and Principals further clarifying that a parent statement of religious or personal belief exemption is acceptable.

The State of Colorado is in the process of standardizing a exempt form used for medical, religious and personal belief exemptions. But a bill in the state Legislature of Oregon would do away with those non medical exemptions. Parents who didn’t secure a doctor’s permission would face a choice between vaccination or not sending their kids to school.

If passed, Oregon would become the fourth state to eliminate non medical exemptions. In the two months since the bill was filed, it has spurred hundred of letters and phone calls, and hours of testimony. Many are concerned Democrats are using vaccination requirements to limit freedom choice rather than protect peoples health.

Author: Felicia Foster