Connecticut gubernatorial hopeful appeals to vaccine foes: ‘I do not make political speeches’
By Michael McManus
9 May 2019
As health officials in Connecticut begin preparations to vaccinate school children against the coronavirus, a Democratic gubernatorial candidate is exploiting a natural and legitimate fear that is being exploited by the medical establishment to further their political agendas.
A day before school was scheduled to begin, Chris Murphy, the incumbent governor of Connecticut, announced that he was exempting himself from the new state mandate to vaccinate children and that “the Department is preparing exemptions for all public and private high schools in Connecticut.”
Murphy described the decision as a matter “of public health,” a claim that was rejected by the New York Times, which reported that “The state health commissioner said he would make every effort to accommodate Murphy and that those who oppose him could apply for a waiver.”
The newspaper noted that Murphy did not respond to the question of why he had not yet told Connecticut residents that school-based child vaccination programs are unconstitutional. The Times, citing unnamed sources, continued: “It is an easy, cheap and effective way to inoculate children…and people have pointed to it as a reason, at least in the debate on vaccines, for not vaccinating.”
An expert panel that had been convened by the state Department of Public Health was scheduled to meet Thursday. Connecticut lawmakers had ordered it to hold hearings and make recommendations as to whether the public may be entitled to medical exemptions to routine vaccination programs. This was to be a prelude to a legislative hearing.
The panel’s recommendations should have been made public. The Democratic Party-controlled legislature has refused, to the great disappointment of its members, to hold a hearing on its own recommendations. They have instead invited Murphy and his allies, who have used the issue to further their political campaigns.
A political ploy
Murphy made the decision to allow his physician to act as an “exemptor” in the event that no other doctor agrees with the public health officials.
The exemption is a political ploy to ensure that public opposition to the mass vaccination programs being instituted around the country is ignored. He and his allies are employing a political gambit akin