Health care worker alert: ABC News misquotes vaccine rights attorney

Health care worker alert: ABC News misquotes vaccine rights attorney

(NaturalNews) Eight nurses who were fired by their hospital-employer for
refusing flu vaccines got national attention earlier this year when ABC News reported on the event.
This brought much needed national attention to a trend rapidly sweeping
the nation, that of hospitals requiring their employees to get flu
shots or lose their jobs. A large percentage of healthcare workers
object to the new policy, but most are getting the shot because they
can't afford to lose their jobs, are not aware of laws that could help
them avoid the shot, or are afraid they'll be fired just for asking for
an exemption. I applaud ABC News for bringing national attention to this
matter.

However, the article misquoted me (a vaccine rights
attorney) about the law, and that could prove disastrous for employees
in the future who rely on the misinformation. Specifically, the article
quoted me as saying: "Religion is legally broad under the First
Amendment, so it could include any strongly held belief . . . the belief
[that] flu shots are bad should suffice." This is absolutely not true,
and not what I said. First Amendment protections do NOT extend to "any
strongly held belief," they extend only to beliefs that are "religious
in nature" and "sincerely held" as the law defines those phrases. As for
the legal meaning of those phrases, that is not a short-answer
question. It takes a consultation to explore this with individual
clients, as rights
can vary according to each person's specific situation and
circumstances, and applicable laws may vary from jurisdiction to
jurisdiction. This is also a complicated arena because of many legal
"pitfalls" that are not obvious to non-attorneys. Unfortunately, the way
exemption law works is just not consistent with most people's common
sense approach to the matter.

The ABC News
article did go on to correctly quote me as having said, "If your
personal beliefs are religious in nature, then they are a protected
belief [sic]," but that is only part of the equation; the beliefs must
also be "sincerely held" - again, as the law defines those phrases. So,
healthcare workers should NOT rely on the ABC article when considering
their rights.

No offense is intended to ABC News or the article's
author; the law in this area can be confusing. To the contrary, we
appreciate ABC News for letting their readers know that some
professionals are so strongly opposed to flu vaccines that they are
willing to lose their jobs rather than be forced to get one. Indeed, the
small number who lose their jobs represent a vastly larger number who
object to mandatory flu vaccines but who simply can't afford to
sacrifice their jobs to prove it.

Alan Phillips, J.D. is a leading national vaccine rights attorney and vaccine legislative activist. For more information, see www.vaccinerights.com, or email Alan at attorney@vaccinerights.com.

The above is for educational purposes only, and is not intended to be legal or medical advice.

Source:-
http://www.naturalnews.com/039319_ABC_News_vaccine_rights_health_care.html