(C) Daily Montanan This story was originally published by Daily Montanan and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Giving thanks for the bipartisan way the Legislature stopped a dangerous child vaccination rule – Daily Montanan [1] ['More From Author', 'November', 'Darrell Ehrlick'] Date: 2023-11-23 Chris Friedel summed up the situation perfectly in an interim committee meeting recently. “Go look at what an iron lung looks like, what Polio does to people,” said Sen. Friedel, R-Billings. “That alone will make you reconsider when you have a conversation about religious exemptions.” Among my earliest memories, I recall the shocking, hard-to-comprehend reality of a person in a long metal tube that looked like some kind of torture device, only their head visible with a visor-like mirror for them to see others. The concept was explained to me that they had to live their lives in an “iron lung” – a name that seemed to make the horrible machine even more scary. As a young child, I couldn’t understand polio or vaccines, but the thought of being stuck in a tube frightened me considerably; so much so that I have never questioned the efficacy and the necessity of vaccines for most of us. That’s why it was refreshing – bordering on inspirational – when Friedel and fellow Republicans joined Democrats on an interim committee to halt the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services’ second attempt at sneaking vaccine exemptions for the youngest, most vulnerable children into state regulations. Montana’s zeal for religious liberty has eclipsed common sense, and science that tells us vaccines have saved millions, if not billions, from horrific death and disease. What we’re missing is a not-so-distant history, perfectly and literally encapsulated in the fading memories of something as shocking as an iron lung. Montana has – if such a phrase can be used – pioneered a regressive movement to allow residents to pick and choose medical science that dovetails with their personal beliefs or feelings. And I suppose no one has outlawed the right to put yourself in harm’s way. That’s fine if you’re a consenting adult who willfully chooses to ignore science or technology, in a manner not so different than the way I chose to ignore the numbers on the scale. Both, undoubtedly, have their own set of consequences. However, what Republicans and Democrats in the Legislature have done through bipartisan cooperation is stop zealots and outliers from dictating how we protect, care and nurture those who are the youngest and most vulnerable. That’s the same group that cannot eat solid food, let alone handle the lifelong consequences that could come with the grave effects of a disease. It is curious that a party which seems singularly focused on babies in utero is so unconcerned with what happens to them immediately upon arrival, when they can face the realities of poverty or disease. Caring so much about abortion and pregnancy seems meaningless if we’re willing to let children succumb to the first dark-ages disease that comes floating around. What is less clear is why the Gianforte administration is so hell bent on inserting this dangerous, possibly deadly rule, into law even though Democrats and members of his own party are steadfastly resistant. This last time around, it seems even more suspect as the vaccine provision seemed to be slipped into a stack of otherwise decent rules and regulations governing childhood care and providers. Was it an attempt to see if lawmakers would notice the literal poison pill cleverly inserted into a pile of regulations? Or was it a gambit testing whether lawmakers would halt the entire bundle in order to stop this one provision? It’s also notable because it’s at least the second time the administration has attempted such a maneuver, lessening the likelihood of an oversight. Quite frankly, we don’t know. And we don’t know because, despite requests for more information or further clarification, the Gianforte administration and the Department of Public Health and Human Services aren’t talking. Heck, they’re not even acknowledging the questions that we sent them. So what Montanans are left to consider is that the Gianforte administration will buck its own party to allow parents to not protect their children, a problematic position in itself. But the Gianforte administration has put what it believes is the epitome of religious freedom on such a high level that it has potential to harm, damage or even kill others who don’t agree. Pediatrician Lauren Wilson summed up the policy perfectly. “When you cannot vaccinate infants, they can’t be protected,” Wilson said. “Their parents don’t have the option of protecting them, so they rely on knowing what the childcare center’s policies are, and knowing that those are strong policies in order to send their kids in.” If it’s religious freedom some members of the administration cherish, likely a nod to their own rigid and doctrinaire Christianity, then they would do well to remember that even though Jesus talked about letting the little children come to him because “theirs is the kingdom of heaven,” that Christ wasn’t suggesting the Gianforte administration hasten that process. [END] --- [1] Url: https://dailymontanan.com/2023/11/23/giving-thanks-for-the-bipartisan-way-the-legislature-stopped-a-dangerous-child-vaccination-rule/ 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/