If my children were not grown, I would have absolutely NO problem using a religious exemption.  I look at a religious exemption this way:

I believe God created the earth and everything man needs to survive, prevent and cure disease. He did NOT create foods with harmful amounts of toxic chemicals, altered bacteria, viruses etc. I'm not aware of vaccines and hypodermics in the Garden of Eden. Therefore, I can honestly say that my religious beliefs prevent me from getting vaccinated (or my children if they were not already grown). Every time a doctor orders a vaccine be given, he's breaking the Hippocratic oath!!!

My fear is they will soon start enforcing penalties.

I have a son on the autistic spectrum and with ADHD.  He has had very high levels of metals in his body, has food intolerances, chemical sensitivities, allergies, chronic fungal, bacterial, and viral infections, and possible seizures.  We have chosen to use holistic and biomedical approaches to heal him, and it is definitely helping.  When we first started to learn about how to heal my son, I was shouting to the world about the good news.  Only to find that few people want to hear about what I have learned.

You see, it requires having to re-learn everything you think you know.  You need to challenge what your doctors are telling you.  These are the very people who are supposed to keep you healthy.  It's so easy to just put your health into someone's hands.  Ignorance is bliss.  If you don't know how harmful conventional medicine is, then it is someone else's fault.  Plus, the government is there to protect us - right?

I still talk to anyone who will listen, but I've had to learn that most people are too afraid (and lazy) to do the research and put their health in their own hands.  The biomedical movement (in the autism world) is having a huge impact (especially thanks to Jenny McCarthy).  My fear is that the government and big business will double their efforts to squash the doctors and parents who follow that approach.

If they take away my right to treat my child in a holistic manner, then all progress will be lost.  If enough parents band together, we can make a difference.  Here we are trying to protect our children and provide them with the absolute best health, and we are being ridiculed (and in some cases having our children taken away).  It's such a shame.  What will our country be like in 20-30 years when all of these sick children are in the work force?  With autism rates of 1 in 150, will there be enough able minded men and women to keep this country afloat?  We are all going to pay for this abuse of medical power.

My .02 cents!

Jen

I love this quote

"Public health officials say that un-vaccinated children could spread diseases to others or trigger an outbreak that could put the lives of many at risk."

So, answer me this, do these vaccinations work, or not? If they do, how can someone who has taken the vaccine be put at risk by someone who didn't?

Perception beats Reality. Marketing trumps Truth.