Recently, the Australian Vaccination Network (AVN) had a red light special sale selling many of their books and (mis)educational material at a discount price. We took the opportunity to snap up an assortment, and as you can see, I ended up with the Conscientious Objector Pack.
What is a conscientious objector I hear you ask? In Australia, between 2 and 5 percent of parents strongly object to their children being vaccinated, either for religious reasons or because of misinformation spread by anti-vax groups such as the AVN.
In a scheme introduced in 1997, parents who complete the government schedule for childhood vaccinations receive a one off payment of AUD200. This was an incentive designed to increase the levels of herd immunity, which had fallen dangerously low, thereby increasing the risk for outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases.
But, if you identify yourself as a conscientious objector, you are also entitled to the money. You just need to explain your reasons to your doctor, they sign a form, (which you can conventiently find on the AVN website) and you collect your cheque too!
The pack pictured is chock-a-block full of magazine articles, opinion pieces and scientific papers (some dating back to the 60s meaning the information is seriously outdated), describing how vaccines will injure your children. This ~ 100 page A4 photocopied piece of propaganda is designed so you can arm yourself with misinformation and half truths about vaccines to bombard your doctor with, when they ask you why you don’t want to vaccinate your children.
And this organisation calls themselves pro-choice, not anti-vaccination.
Expect more updates as I bravely plough through this nonsense.
Know thy enemy.
Thanks to Pete for the pack.
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