Senate bill 5841, “ The State Emergency Health Powers Act,” grants state authorities the power to force vaccination and treatment for infectious disease in times of urgency.

            Individuals refusing vaccinations or treatment would be charged with a misdemeanor; in refusing, if a person poses a danger to the public health, they would be subject to isolation or quarantine.

            Legislators across the country are pushing for similar laws that not only permit mandatory vaccination or treatment, but also large-scale quarantine, forcible seizure of hospitals, businesses, and the destruction of contaminated property without the owner’s consent.

            According to New Yorkers for Vaccination Information and Choice (NYVIC), one such proposal, Assembly bill 9508 would, “Permit forced vaccinations, abolish patient privacy, criminalize the refusal of medical treatment, seize and destroy private property, control communications, food, fuel, drugs and other items.”

            For more information about NYVIC, or to sign their petition against such legislation, visit their website at www.nyvic.org.

Source: New Yorkers for Vaccination Information and Choice, www.nyvic.org; “States weighing laws to fight bioterrorism, Washington Post, November 19, 2001, p. A01; Planet Chiropractic, www.planetc1.com, February 11,2002.