UPDATE August 4, 2019, 6:03 p.m. Bluestem goofed badly in the first version of this post, naming Eric Lucero as a member of the New House Republican Caucus. As several readers cheerfully remind us, he is a member of the Republican Caucus. Our apology to him and others in both caucuses for the error [end update]
Last Sunday, half of the Minnesota New House Republican Caucus two Minnesota House Republicans were proud to stand should-to-shoulder with the Vaccine Safety Council of MN, a group that drew attention in the Hill in January when two of the Vaccine skeptics appointed to new Minnesota council on autism.
Eric Lucero (Albertville) and Jeremy Munson (Lake Crystal) posed with the anti-vaccine leaders above to prove that they don't think government is the boss of you. Or science. The Hill reported in Vaccine skeptics appointed to new Minnesota council on autism:
The modern anti-vaccination movement has persisted despite research debunking the myth that vaccines are linked to autism.
The World Health Organization has listed “vaccine hesitancy” as one of the 10 threats to global health in 2019, specifically noting a 30 percent rise of measles cases.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said two doses of the MMR vaccine for measles, mumps and rubella is about 97 percent effective at preventing the illness.
Outbreaks of measles have been spreading across the country, particularly in anti-vaccination communities. . . .
Eric Lucero's Facebook post about the moment is embedded below. Here's the text of the post so readers don't have to head over to that page:
Great turnout to the Vaccine Safety Council of MN Legislative Debrief today in Minnetonka!
Radical progressives on the Left continue their efforts to erode parental decision making in multiple areas of our lives including religious liberty, education choice, health freedom, etc., seeking instead to mandate the forceful control agenda of big government bureaucrats.
Colleague State Rep. Jeremy Munson and I are proud to be among those legislators standing shoulder-to-shoulder with parents fighting to preserve parents' God given rights and authority over their own childrens' medical decisions including informed consent!!
The post itself:
This legislative debrief won't be the anti-vax movement's last hurrah in Minnesota. In June, the Alexandria EchoPress's Karen Tolkkinen reported in 'Vaxxed' producer to speak in Alexandria: Local chiropractor planning vaccination conference:
One of the biggest stars in anti-vaccination circles is scheduled to speak in Alexandria this fall at a time the U.S. is seeing the biggest measles outbreak in 25 years.
Achieve Wellness, a local chiropractic clinic, is hosting Del Bigtree, a producer of the controversial film "Vaxxed," as well as Minnesota pediatrician Dr. Bob Zajac and Michigan vaccine critic Mary Tocco at a conference at Lake Geneva Christian Center that chiropractor Jerod Ochsendorf says could draw up to 2,000.
"He's going to have a great draw for more people to come and listen," said Ochsendorf, who co-owns Achieve Wellness.
The event worries some vaccine advocates.
A third of Minnesota schools already have extremely low vaccination rates, and this conference may drop that rate further, said Karen Ernst, executive director of Voices for Vaccines and the founder of the Minnesota Childhood Immunization Coalition.
"It's alarming that he's coming to central Minnesota to sell his package of incorrect facts," she said. "It's going to result in people not vaccinating and here we are with 800 cases of measles."
Bigtree created "Vaxxed" with Andrew Wakefield, a British doctor who led a now-discredited study that vaccines cause autism.
The article notes that parents of school children in the Alexandria area appear to be pro-vaccine:
Douglas County parents apparently think so. In this county, nearly 95 percent of kindergarteners are fully vaccinated, according to the Minnesota Department of Education.
"It's a norm in this community to be well-vaccinated," said Horizon Public Health director Ann Stehn. "They work. They're highly tested and researched."
Not only are vaccines safe, she said, but they prevent diseases like measles, a highly-contagious disease that can land victims in the hospital and can, in rare cases, prove fatal. From Jan. 1 to May 17, there have been 880 cases of measles in 24 states, the greatest number of cases reported in the U.S. since 1994 and since measles was declared eliminated in 2000, the CDC reports.
Despite Lucero's spinning pro-vaccine sentiment as the creature of "Radical progressives on the Left." Douglas County, Minnesota, is solidly Old Republican, if the 2018 election returns are too be believed.
Photo: Eric Lucero (pink sports jacket, standing, left) and Jeremy Munson (blue sports jacket, standing, right), shoulder-to-shoulder with Vaccine Safety Council of MN leaders.
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