Jwalsh07: There was no "opt out", there was a form to submit requesting status as a conscientious objector with the government being the judge of that.
HERE, in contrast, is what the executive order says:
Parents’ Rights.The Department of State Health Services will, in order to protect the right of parents to be the final authority on their children’s health care, modify the current process in order to allow parents to submit a request for a conscientious objection affidavit form via the Internet while maintaining privacy safeguards under current law.
There is nothing in that EO saying that the government would be the "judge of that." It says that the Parents are the FINAL AUTHORITY, not the government. That is what was false in what you said.
Perry had requested as part of his program that they implement an online opt-out form, as you can see above. I don't think they ever implemented it, as you know the Texas legislature passed a law in objection to the EO, and Perry rescinded the EO, so it could be they never adopted an online form.
Here is the rules for opt-out in Texas. You will note that there is NO MENTION of a state review being necessary. You only need to SUBMIT THE REQUEST, and you are opted out. So again, your claim that the government gets to judge your submission is false:
42.043. RULES FOR IMMUNIZATIONS.
(d) No immunization may be required for admission to a facility regulated under this chapter if a person applying for a child's admission submits one of the following affidavits:
(1) an affidavit signed by a licensed physician stating that the immunization poses a significant risk to the health and well-being of the child or a member of the child's family or household; or
(2) an affidavit signed by the child's parent or guardian stating that the applicant declines immunization for reasons of conscience, including a religious belief.
(d-1) An affidavit submitted under Section (d)(2) must be on a form described by Section 161.0041, Health and Safety Code, and must be submitted not later than the 90th day after the date the affidavit is notarized.
Here is the online form you can use to request the official opt-out form. You fill this out, they send a form to your house, you fill it out, sign it in front of a notary, mail it in, and you are DONE. Opted out. Obviously, and online opt-out form would have been easier, but this isn't a hard process:
Affidavit Request for Exemption from Immunizations for Reasons of Conscience.
Here is the Texas state web page for immunization exemptions. As you will see if you read it, the process does NOT include any government review of the submissions.
School & Child-Care Facility Requirements
I hope that i have provided you with sufficient information to prove to you that your claim that the state would "judge" the submission was false. There is no evidence in the EO, the state law, or the official exemption web site to support your claim, and in fact they all state the opposite of what you claimed.
Do you know what the word request means?
42.043. RULES FOR IMMUNIZATIONS.That's not easy. Not easy at all. And I will tell YOU why it is not easy. Please pay full attention as I get to it. When you said "this isn't a hard process" YOU were saying something EASY. It's easy for you to say, but you aren't putting yourself it the shoes of others to so say. That is clear.(d) No immunization may be required for admission to a facility regulated under this chapter if a person applying for a child's admission submits one of the following affidavits:
(1) an affidavit signed by a licensed physician stating that the immunization poses a significant risk to the health and well-being of the child or a member of the child's family or household; or
(2) an affidavit signed by the child's parent or guardian stating that the applicant declines immunization for reasons of conscience, including a religious belief.
It is clear because a conscientious parent, one with moral scruples and a seriousness about what religion and true conscience means will have trouble writing an affidavit attesting to having "reasons of conscience" for objecting to to the vaccine. Why? Because it is likely they have no religious objections to the concept of vaccines, or even of the public health requirements that do indeed give rational public purpose to some vaccines -- such as polio up until very recently, as polio was a true contagious hazard to all. Polio at least until recent years when it is a disease that is so rare that a vaccine for it approaches no longer being for any purpose.
For such truly conscientious folks it is very hard to solemnly swear to a "conscientious objection" of a religious sort. Their objections may be strictly ad-hoc to this particular vaccine, and they object to the State's given rationale for the need to vaccinate. That's a policy objection, not one of conscience.
Yet to such folks HONESTY is paramount. Filing an objection as a "conscientious objection" is simply untrue, so honest are they, so committed to honesty.
IN YOUR GLIBNESS YOU DEMAND that they be dishonest. That's mean. That's ignorant of you. Callous. Glib. Disrespectful of others.
IT WAS LOUSY, UTTERLY LOUSY PUBLIC HEALTH POLICY TO MANDATE THIS VACCINE, and to burden some of the most morally conscientious with a morally compromising opt-out provision.
As Chief Executive of the Republic of Texas, Perry made a number of significant more mistakes in this matter. Mistakes that speak to his nature as a leader and executive, and how he regards the rights and authority of parents, and from that how he regards the public and their independence as adults making adult decisions.
Nor has he apologized for or regretted some of those key mistakes.