“Responding to such terrifying language, Massachusetts’s legislation introduced hefty fines and prison sentences for those who refused to be vaccinated. ”

As a Massachusetts resident, I never heard even a WHISPER of any such legislation during the H1N1 media blitz. When I first read this, I was fairly confident that it was never made law (I also checked it out on a urban myth website or two, though I understand these cannot always be trusted). Apparently, both the urban myths sites and I were factually wrong in that there apparently was legislation.

But, it is misleading in that the statement implies immediacy; it is worded in such a way as to give the impression that this just happened in response to the conversation, debate, media coverage of the H1N1 flu strain recently. And it’s not as cut and dried as a state legislature passing a law in a panic over pharma hype.

I CAN state with complete and total confidence that the residents of this state were NEVER told we were mandated to get an H1N1 vaccination, and certainly they would have told us if it where really the law requiring heavy fines and even prison time in effect for the H1N1 ‘emergency’? There was a ton of media coverage on the whole thing. I’m surprised they never mentioned this: they made sure to warn us plenty in advance when the new new no-texting while driving law went into effect.

Knowing the company for which I work, I KNOW they would have made sure we were aware, since they offered free H1N1 shots when they became available to us low risk types here (I passed). We have a good sized legal department and it’s very thorough. I’m certain they would have been aware, as would our health insurance company, which communicates constantly to use about healthy habits, and getting our vaccinations (including H1N1).

I did some more internet searches. I did find this sentence in an article titled “Senator Richard T Moore Issues Statement on 2028″ on masslpa.org:

“…U.S. Supreme Court in the landmark case of Jacobson v. Massachusetts [197 U.S. 11 (1905)], mandatory vaccination is deemed “a legitimate exercise of the state’s police power to protect the public health and safety of its citizens.” The state has the authority to vaccinate, but has stated that it will not mandate such action in the case of H1N1.”

At answers.com, I found this:

“This seminal case on the nature of the police power—the legal basis for state authority in the field of public health—involved a compulsory vaccination regulation of the Cambridge, Massachusetts, Board of Health. The defendant refused to be vaccinated and contended that the requirement invaded his liberty and was hostile to “the right of every freeman to care for his own body and health in such a way as to him sees fit.” But the Court held that…”

[Read more: http://www.answers.com/topic/landmark-public-health-laws-and-court-decisions#ixzz19wRq1lfD\

So, whatever Mass law Jacobsen was fighting was NOT an actual state law (Cambridge being a city, not a state). And it was introduced and passed a long, long time ago, not really in response to our recent H1N1 episode. Though, to be fair, the statement is not actually incorrect, just misleading, since, “such terrifying language” probably WAS uttered over 100 years ago, now. And, the ULTIMATE result IS the same: the state has been deemed to have the power to force us to, if it decides it is urgent enough. But, they didn’t. Yay! In Jacobsen’s case, I believe it might have been smallpox. I have been vaccinated for smallpox, as a child. Smallpox was essentially eliminated, so in that case, was it justified? in those days, pharma like that was actually for the public good, not for profit. Just look into Jonas Salk.

I hope Project Censored will clarify that statement. It really does impact my sense of trust in them. When I read that statement, my heart jumped, I got afraid, then I thought about what I had actually experienced. At first, those words created fear of overwhelming power forcing me to do something I honestly don’t agree with. But, people who weren’t in Massachusetts during the H1N1 media blitz don’t have that reality check. We rely on things like Project Censored for that.

Things are scary enough without the ‘good guys’ scaring us unnecessarily, too. I didn’t doubt that organizations, powerful elements of the ‘government’, and the media were manipulating us about H1N1. But, I am not convinced that all the concern expressed at the time was all hype, either. And, it does appear that the states and the federal government didn’t consider the threat to rise to the level of mandating vaccination, though they do appear to have the power.

I’m sure this misleading little sentence is an honest mistake which is why I am writing this response. Truth is truth and oh so very precious in today’s world of wall to wall lies and mass psychological manipulation. This is one place we can go for truth (which isn’t just being factually accurate as far as it goes, but must also include clarity in the subtle ways, too). Truth helps us to build an accurate and realistic model of our world. Implying that this law was just passed, even inadvertently, misleads us to a wrong (fearful and outraged) conclusion.