New York is Proposing a Law Requiring Kids to be Vaccinated

Man 1: It’s 1800LAW1010, 1800law1010.com. Paul Harding from Martin, Harding & Mazzotti on the phone.

Man 2: Hey, Paul.

Paul: Good morning, guys.

Man 2: Paul is gonna clear up a new bill that they’re pushing that would require all kids to get their vaccination shots.

Man 1: No matter what, right?

Man 2: No religious exemption. Is that the one loophole, Paul?

Paul: Well, you know, religious exemption is the one that is certainly getting the highlights here. They’re going to eliminate all the exemptions other than for medical reasons, but interestingly enough, no major medical… I take that back. No major religious group objects to vaccination. So what we have here is a little loophole in New York and it says, “If you have a philosophical reason to object to the vaccinations, that was also allowed.” So that’s where most of these exemptions came from. And if this law passes, that will be gone.

Man 2: So there’s no religion that is anti-vaccination…

Man 1: Well, the Hasidic Jewish population is really taking the brunt of it, aren’t they?

Paul: It seems to be where the most resistance is, but their Jewish leaders around the state and around the country have all commented that they are not anti-vaccination.

Man 2: People are using this on an individual basis, not on a group basis, to get around getting their kids vaccinated. So if the law goes through, what happens?

Paul: Well, if the law goes through, then if your child is not vaccinated, he or she will not be able to attend school. And when that happens, now you’ve got truancy, now you’ve got laws being violated. So in essence, they could take it as far as they need to take it, but your children could be taken away. I mean, those were some of the things being written about and certainly is very possible because school is something that they’re not gonna allow the children not to attend.

Ultimately, here what I see happening is this thing actually passing. It passed in California. Everyone said, “Well, the First Amendment rights are gonna be affected. There’s gonna be, you know, a backlash because the right to religious freedom is going to be tacked.” But California got through it. Another state down south got through it, and I believe we will be the third.

Man 1: I feel like it’s just good business. It’s not like a right thing you guys.

Man 2: Yeah. Except you’re putting a needle in another human per order of the government and that’s always scary.

Man 1: It’s to protect humans too, you know.

Man 2: I get it but you’re still putting a needle into a child because the government told you to. Isn’t that odd when you say it that way, Paul?

Paul: It is, and so then they start pulling out the statistics that show that about 500 children a year were dying, 50,000 a year were hospitalized as a result of measles now, and of course, and there were many that had brain damage. So when you start pulling out those children that would be protected from that, now, again, if they’re secondary effects of this, I think that’s what is really driving the sort of anti-vaccers looking at all the things that they think can happen. So I just think at this point, that it’s going to outweigh, you know, the public good is going to outweigh that First Amendment argument.

Man 1: I’m pretty sure I got that, you know, the measles stuff. Pretty sure I got all that.

Man 2: I’m sure you did.

Man 1: I don’t know if I got that second shot they talk about but I wonder how many people are literally rolling the dice not knowing if they got it or not, that are my age, that are, you know, they’ve been around for a bit.

Paul: You know, I don’t know. I remember I was lining up as a kid like cattle and they just were pumping them in my arm and no one thought about it twice…

Man 1: Didn’t have to.

Paul: …for days and, yeah.

Man 2: Well, this could go through this session. So this could be done pretty quickly, right?

Paul: That seems to be the argument. You know, they don’t say they have enough votes now, but the momentum is growing. And, you know, once these legislators start hearing from the people in their home districts, that’s when they start casting their votes or at least saying that they’re gonna go that way and that seems to be the momentum.

Man 2: I hope they do some trick like attach legal weed to this bill.

Paul: They might do it. That’s right.

Man 2: They just can’t fast track it through. I think we have in the Congress…

Man 1: It’s a great idea again. You’ve got my vote, brother.

Man 2: We’re all on board for that. All right, Paul Harding, thank you so much this morning.

Man 1: Thanks, Paul.

Paul: You’re welcome.

Man 1: 1800LAW1010, 1800law1010.com. Paul Harding from Martin, Harding & Mazzotti.