Toddler flu shot mandate overturned by NY court

New York judge tells Nanny State it's no longer 'calling the shots'

Dear Reader,

A group of angry moms has just put one of the most powerful health agencies in America in its place.

And it’s about time!

Just last month I told you how the New York City Board of Health was trying to bully and extort tens of thousands of parents into getting the flu shot for their kids.

They were even threatening to throw these tots out of preschool and daycare on their diapered little behinds if they didn’t get the vaccine.

But a handful of mothers just took these unelected Nanny State officials to court and beat them at their own game.

And this victory could deal a big blow to dangerous vaccine mandates all across the country.

Slapping down a power grab

It had the kind of name you’d expect to see in some futuristic sci-fi movie — one where the government has finally taken our last freedoms.

The Vaccine Powers Rule.

Only in this case, the “power” to decide whether your kids get vaccinated rests with a bunch of bureaucrats who’ve never been elected to anything.

You see, under the Vaccine Powers Rule — which would have gone into effect in January — the New York City Board of Health would have required that all children between the ages of six months and five get vaccinated against flu.

If they didn’t line up for the vaccine, they would have been tossed out of city-licensed preschools or daycare facilities, leaving working parents in the lurch. Schools that let unvaccinated children through the door could have been fined $2,000 a kid.

And when a group of mothers complained about the mandate, the Board of Health said it would see them in court.

Well, justice may be blind — but, thankfully, she can still smell a rat a mile away.

Because a New York Appeals judge took one look at the requirement and told the health officials that they have no “authority to create laws.”

No kidding! In fact, the New York State Legislature has repeatedly refused to pass a flu shot mandate for young kids.

Now, you know what’s coming next, right?

The New York City health commissioner is playing the fear card, talking about how thousands of kids are going to be put in harm’s way if the city can’t force a vaccine on them. She even said she’s “extremely disappointed” in the ruling.

Well, I’m extremely disappointed that I don’t get to make up laws either — but that’s not how a democracy works.

Plus, nobody is buying the health department’s nonsense anyway. One of the moms who brought the lawsuit pointed out that flu-shot decisions will now be made by parents, not a bunch of power-happy officials at City Hall.

And that’s how it should be.

The really good news here is that this legal decision could spark parents in other states to take action. I’ve been warning you for months how states like California and Rhode Island are passing mandates that would remove kids from school if they don’t get risky vaccines — including the HPV shot Gardasil.

And hopefully, at the least, this court case is sending a message that city and state health agencies nationwide will hear loud and clear.

To Your Good Health,

Jenny Thompson

Sources:
“NY court overturns Bloomberg-era flu shot mandate for infants — school age children” Age of Autism, December 17, 2015, ageofautism.com