Sunday, May 11, 2008

Texas to immunize FLDS children

From the Salt Lake Tribune, hat tip to Infowars.com [Emphasis added]

Texas authorities have asked foster care providers to immunize every FLDS child - despite some parents' concerns about possible negative effects.

The Texas Department of Family and Protective Services sent letters to 16 group homes and shelters this week asking them to line up shots for the children.

"It appears to be a totally unimmunized population," said Patrick Crimmins, department spokesman. "We're the legal parents of the children and we would like for them to be immunized."

Crimmins said the state requires all children in custody to be immunized for their "health and safety."
I probably have a different perspective about this than most of you - my parents believed that vaccines weren't safe and I was never immunized as a child. The only reason we got around school regulations, most likely, is that my siblings and I were homeschooled. Whether or not vaccines are truly unsafe, it's absolutely deplorable that the State can own these children and do with them what it wants.

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that these children shouldn't be in the care of the State in the first place. Do I condone polygamy? No. Of course not. I don't think polygamous marriage should be legally sanctioned, but I certainly don't think that we should be prosecuting those living in plural marriages. If there is abuse along the lines of underage marriages really going on, that's one thing, but to prosecute people for their - albeit dreadfully wrong - personal convictions is wrong.

I also think that if there was abuse going on, the children shouldn't be taken from their mothers. Since when do we take children away from abused mothers? Mothers living in abusive (singular) marriages essentially "allow" an unhealthy environment to continue, but we don't take their children away!

Anyway, that's a bit of rambling post for one little article, but I hadn't talked much about this situation yet, so I figured I would ;).

Labels:

|