Traitorous bureaucrats in the state of Rhode Island are attempting to force 11-year-olds to be vaccinated for human papillomavirus (HPV) in order to attend school, and this even applies to those who attend private school. This has sparked outrage among parents, doctors and lawmakers alike. Members of a grassroots opposition movement have already vowed to not only overturn the unconstitutional mandate but also to expand the freedom of Rhode Island parents to opt their children out of vaccinations.

Rhode Island Governor Gina Raimondo and newly-appointed Rhode Island Department of Health Director Nicole Alexander-Scott recently issued a decree that all school-age children entering the seventh grade must be vaccinated with an HPV vaccine in order to attend classes. They contend that because the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) considers HPV vaccines to be safe and effective medicine, all Rhode Island schoolchildren should be forced to receive them.

Rhode Islanders aren’t pleased with the fact that their hired public servants are attempting to usurp their parental authority and medical autonomy. Nearly 100 people gathered at the Cumberland Public Library, north of Providence, on August 17 to protest the decision, calling on newly-appointed DOH head Nicole Alexander-Scott to take a step back and stop trying to force a dangerous and unproven vaccine on their children.

“Mandating a vaccine that is attached to school attendance that is not a public health threat or transferable in the classroom is not okay,” stated Aimee Gardiner, co-leader of the grassroots group Rhode Islanders Against Mandated HPV Vaccinations, in a statement to The New American. “It is bad public policy, and it is a bad use of power from the Rhode Island Department of Health.”

Parents, lawmakers in Rhode Island promise to pass legislation expanding parental rights to opt out of vaccination

Rhode Island currently recognizes medical and religious exemptions from vaccination but not personal or philosophical exemptions. This makes it difficult for many parents to make the best medical decisions for their children without having to vociferously fight against the state’s egregious mandates using other tactics.

“This vaccine strikes people in different ways,” Gardiner added, as quoted by The New American. “Many are upset that this is a sexually transmitted disease and the Department of Health is mandating it. That crosses the line with personal and family values and points of appropriate discussions, as many parents feel an STD conversation is not needed at 11 years old.”

Others opposed to the HPV vaccine mandate include Dr. Mark Brady, Dr. Stephen Petteruti, and Dr. Christopher Black, all of whom spoke at the rally that took place just prior to a DOH presentation in favor of the mandate. They were joined by a chorus of protesters, many of whom held handmade signs demanding a remission of the mandate.

Dr. Brady said at the rally that the DOH “cannot demonstrate a clear and present danger from the virus.” He added that he doesn’t want his patients, his children, or his friends’ children to be “part of an experiment.”

Because infection with HPV doesn’t represent a “clear and present danger,” he told the crowd, there’s no legitimacy in the state trying to force it on children, especially those who are barely even of age to begin engaging in sexual activity. Such decisions should be made between children and their parents, not children and the state.

Other lawmakers in Rhode Island are taking a more offensive approach, signing onto proposed legislation that would expand parental rights to opt out of vaccinations. Republican State Representative Justin Price says he plans to file a bill that will “put the power back into parents’ hands.”

Sources for this article include:

TheNewAmerican.com