We residents of  Waldo County would like to respond to "Protecting Our Children" and to thank Senator Erin Herbig for her support of parental and religious rights in Maine. Protecting our children’s health is the responsibility of parents, not the government.

Maine's vaccination rate in schools for kindergarten is about 95% and has been steadily rising for the last decade. For first grade, the rate for the 2017-18 school year was 96.6%. First grade data was not reported for the current school year, but historically has been higher than kindergarten rates, which is likely explained by first graders catching up on boosters not yet received in kindergarten (if a child is missing just one booster, they are counted as unvaccinated and must file an exemption).

According to the World Health Organization "herd immunity" is reached at 92% vaccination rate, and Maine schools are clearly far above that. Herd immunity is the theory that high vaccination rates at a specified threshold within a community can prevent disease outbreaks. This bold assumption is problematic as we know from basic biology that vaccine-induced antibody responses are acquired very differently from natural immunity. Vaccines completely bypass the immune system’s primary lines of defense (in the skin, mucosal linings in the respiratory system and digestive system), and instead force an irregular immune response by activating the production of antibodies against the antigens that have been injected.

It is clear to see that vaccines are failing. Outbreaks of measles, chicken pox, mumps, and pertussis have occurred in highly vaccinated school populations, and those getting sick have primarily been the vaccinated.
https://ktla.com/2019/03/16/despite-vaccination-nearly-50-harvard-westlake-students-catch-whooping-cough/amp/
https://thevaccinereaction.org/2019/03/mumps-like-parotitis-strikes-crew-of-u-s-navy-ship/

This issue certainly does arouse strong feelings.

If LD798 passes, it takes away our Constitutional rights. It mandates that parents inject their children with toxins that can cause serious side effects such as deafness, encephalitis and even death, as listed on the manufacturers’ vaccine inserts. Other adverse reactions on the inserts include food allergies, eczema, epilepsy, tics, bowel dysfunction, SIDS, leukemia, diabetes, speech delays, asthma, developmental delays, shingles, autoimmune diseases, Lupus, strabismus, anxiety, OCD, PANDAS, Guillain-Barré syndrome, ADHD and arthritis. Congress has also declared vaccines as “unavoidably unsafe.”

If you had attended the 13 hours of testimonies on March 13, you would have heard horrifying story after story of how vaccines have injured MANY children. It was clear that these parents and many others will never stop fighting for the rights of all children. Of the 781 Maine voters that submitted testimony on LD798:
⦁ 623 or 80% were in opposition
⦁ 125 testimonies addressed religious objections to certain vaccinations

Debunking the Case of Vermont
⦁ Vermont removed only the philosophical exemption in 2016, still allowing religious and medical exemptions.
⦁ They saw an immediate drop in exemption rates.
⦁ Vermont’s bill, VT H238, which proposes the removal of the religious exemption, has been tabled and will not be heard this legislative session
⦁ In Maine, a predicted similar decrease in parents opting out of vaccination would put our kindergarten vaccination rate well above the herd immunity threshold at 95.6%.

The religious vaccine exemption amendment to LD 798 protects our Constitutional, religious and inalienable rights. Mandatory vaccines violate Informed Consent, the Nuremberg Code, HIPPA and are, in fact, Unconstitutional. LD798 goes back to the Senate for a vote on Tuesday, May 14th. We are grateful for Senator Herbig’s vote in favor of the religious exemption amendment the first time the bill went to the Senate and hope she will continue to stand firm in supporting the religious vaccine exemption in Maine.

There is absolutely no data, proof or studies to show that the unvaccinated pose a threat or risk to the vaccinated. Parents that choose not to follow the recommended vaccine schedule, rely on the body's immune system to protect their children (and themselves) from diseases.

If you choose to vaccinate, that is your choice. We are simply fighting to keep our choice. “Our body's, our choice.”

In closing, we again thank Senator Erin Herbig for supporting our parental and religious rights in Maine.

Dr. Jane Robertson, Belfast
Warren and Bethany Allgrove, Lincolnville
Kristina and Graham Clark, Belfast
Gary McIntire and Junne Robertson-McIntire, Belfast
Rhonda Robertson, North Searsport
Venita Robertson, Camden
Lisa McConnell, Belmont
Alessandra Martinelli, Northport
Dr. Kerri Vacher, ND, FNP Belfast
Heidi Reader, Swanville
Sasha Kutsy, Belfast
Tanya Blanchard, Thorndike
Laura Hubbell, Jackson
Jamie Huntsberger and Elizabeth Alma, Unity
Mandy Everett, Northport
Kristy Pottle and Denis Howard of Belfast
Michael, Megan And Kacey Wellman, Winterport
Matt and Holly Brown, Monroe
Rosalina Brown, Monroe
Marvin and Sherry Graves, Monroe
Jessica Plummer, Swanville
April Dove, Northport
Heather Frey, Swanville
Michelle McAvoy, Searsport
Joshua and Kaleigh Van der Swaagh, Northport
Elizabeth Coldren, Belfast
Krista Yungman, Belfast
Hilary Emma, Lincolnville
Erin Scalli, Morrill
Jason Rawn, Lincolnville
Shannon Elliott, Northport
Camille Rose Fields, Thorndike
Lucrecia Yentes, Monroe
Tara, Wade and Ruby Ambrose, Belfast
Donna Broderick, Searsmont
Joanna and Agnes Nymanson, Lincolnville
Evan Obercian, Lincolnville
Aimee Moffitt-Mercer, Belfast
Amanda Reusch, Searsport
Matt and Edna Dodge, Belfast
Jasmine Fowler, Morrill