(C) Daily Montanan This story was originally published by Daily Montanan and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Proponents say 'conscience exemption' bill allows religious freedom; opponents say it's harmful – Daily Montanan [1] ['Keila Szpaller', 'More From Author', '- April'] Date: 2023-04-06 If you own a childcare business and turn down an unvaccinated toddler from enrolling, you can be sued for damages by the parent of that child, according to Senate Bill 450. Thursday, Rep. Wayne Rusk, R-Corvallis, quizzed sponsor Sen. Daniel Emrich, R-Great Falls, about that provision and others in the bill, which applies to many facilities, not just childcare businesses. “Explain to me why this punitive and retaliatory clause is in this particular bill,” Rusk said. Emrich said he disagreed the bill is punitive or retaliatory in allowing aggrieved parties to seek damages. He said it allowed individuals who have had their rights violated to recover financially. “When you talk about compensatory damages, that means compensation damages,” Emrich said. “So compensation damages are to make an individual whole inside of a court setting.” Called the Personal Freedom/Right of Conscience Act, the bill says state agencies, cities and counties, licensed businesses, and schools need to accept “without question” a “conscience exemption” for immunization for employment purposes or school attendance. As proposed, the bill states failure to accept a “conscience exemption” will be considered illegal discrimination in Montana. “Currently, only a select few of school children actually enjoy this religious right and freedom, and I’d like to expand it to all the citizens of the state of Montana,” Emrich said. As proposed, aggrieved parties may seek damages and attorneys’ fees. A fiscal note said the bill isn’t as broad as some prior similar legislation, but it still estimated another 100 complaints filed a year to the Montana Human Rights Bureau, including from nursing home workers. It calculated a need for two more investigators as a result. SB 450 already passed the Senate 30-20 with four Republicans, Sens. Bruce Gillespie of Ethridge, Dan Salomon of Ronan, Russ Tempel of Chester, and Terry Vermeire of Anaconda, joining Democrats in opposition. The bill would take effect upon being approved. Currently, Montana requires a series of vaccinations for children to attend preschool through high school, including measles, rubella, mumps, diphtheria, pertussis (whooping cough), tetanus and influenza type B. It also allows exceptions for those with a valid medical or religious exemption. To be granted an exception, the child provides an affidavit that says immunization is contrary to their religious beliefs, or a medical statement signed by a health care provider. SB 450, heard Thursday in the House Judiciary Committee, would provide for a “conscience exemption,” which would cut the requirement for an affidavit and allow a signed statement instead. It would apply beyond schools and cut state funds for any entity that fails to comply. In 2021, the legislature passed House Bill 702, which prohibited employers from requiring vaccinations as part of employment. In December, U.S. District Court Judge Donald Molloy found the prohibition to be illegal in healthcare settings. Thursday, proponents said vaccines have injured children and are pushed by “big pharma” and a government that can’t be trusted. They also said they should be allowed to follow their religious beliefs without being turned away from childcare facilities. Jolene Crum said she has a background in pharmaceutical research, and she’s lost faith in the safety of labs. She said injecting children with vaccines “is in fact a religion.” “And we need to make sure that we have more exemptions to escape that religious system forced on us by ‘big pharma,’” Crum said. Opponents, however, said the bill will only exacerbate Montana’s lack of childcare businesses because they will close. They also said vaccination rates will go down, Montanans will experience more outbreaks of preventable diseases, and portions of the bill have already been struck down in court. Sheryl Hutzenbiler of Billings said her facility serves children who have compromised immune systems, and families know she offers a safe environment for them. She said if the bill passes, she would stop enrolling new children and be forced to let staff go. “If SB450 were to pass, Munchkin Land could be closed in five years,” Hutzenbiler said. But Robyn Mohs of East Helena was among the parents who said she’d seen problems with vaccinations and also seen children stay healthy without being immunized. Mohs said for many years, she pushed aside the voice of Jesus and the Holy Spirit asking why she was allowing her daughter to be injected. She said children shouldn’t be prevented from going to quality childcare facilities just because they haven’t had a vaccination. “Since when do we hold services back from people because of their medical status?” Mohs said. Proponents said the bill would “restore medical freedom” and allow people to have choices given the possible side effects of vaccines. Last year, Ohio experienced a measles outbreak among children who were not fully vaccinated, and 36 children were hospitalized, according to U.S. News and World Report. New York saw a case of polio last year, the first in the country since 2013. Paul Smith, a retired pediatric intensive care physician, said he worked in the medical field for 40 years and attested to the difference vaccines have made. Early in his career, Smith said he saw dozens of cases of meningitis, epiglottitis and pertussis. He said he saw many children die, and some survived but with permanent and devastating neurological conditions. Later in his career, he rarely saw children with those diseases. “I’ve witnessed firsthand a dramatic change in the landscape of infectious diseases, as safe and effective immunizations were developed and mandated,” Smith said. In questions, Rep. Jedidiah Hinkle, R-Belgrade, asked what the problem would be for those who wanted children vaccinated, since they were protected, if they encountered children who weren’t immunized. In response, Dr. Lauren Wilson, president of the Montana Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, said vaccinations aren’t perfect, for one, and the efficacy depends on the type. Secondly, she said some children get a vaccination but don’t mount an immune response. Additionally, Wilson said many children aren’t old enough to be fully protected because they haven’t completed the series, such as 17 of the children in Ohio who were too young to have received both measles doses. “So even if you are immunizing your children, you’re intending to protect them, there are circumstances in which they’re not fully protected if the disease is in the environment,” Wilson said. She said the goal is to prevent outbreaks in the first place. In testimony, Wilson also said the provision in the bill that includes licensed health care providers or entities licensed by the state was the subject of recent litigation. She said a federal court found hospitals must have the ability to require vaccinations to protect immunosuppressed patients. “SB450 ignores these findings and places patients at risk,” Wilson said. Emrich, though, said two of his children have struggled with the effects of vaccines. One was an early bloomer until she had a reaction to her tetanus shot, he said. In response to a question from Rep. Tom France, D-Missoula, about how to balance the concerns about childcare facilities that will have to close against religious freedom, Emrich said it was no contest. He said people fear change, but he believes the arguments about closures are empty threats. “I don’t think that there is a balance when you’re talking about a person’s rights. You know, rights are there for a reason, and they are in the constitution for a reason,” he said. The committee did not take immediate action on the bill Thursday morning. [END] --- [1] Url: https://dailymontanan.com/2023/04/06/proponents-say-conscience-exemption-bill-allows-religious-freedom-opponents-say-its-harmful/ Published and (C) by Daily Montanan Content appears here under this condition or license: Creative Commons CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/montanan/