Now I’m angry at Hallmark

Who would have thought a greeting card would make me this angry?

Today, I received a card from Hallmark and Missouri’s Bureau of Immunizations.  The card tells me that “Every Missouri child is precious to us.  Please remember that your baby needs to begin his or her shots by two months of age.”  I received this within an hour of reading this disturbing article: Isn’t your baby’s life worth more than $250,000?  Basically, it talks about how most cases of SIDS are within days of the 2 and 4 month “well baby” vaccinations, and how if you can prove that your baby died of a vaccination, the most you can receive for malpractice is $250,000.  Now I’m not big on malpractice payouts, but $250,000 doesn’t seem like much considering that you have to pay for a funeral and take time off of work to grieve for your lost baby.

Also included on the card is a little immunization record on which I can write down the dates for the 27 individual injections my baby is expected to receive by 24 months.  (plus there’s a little * saying that there are additional vaccines recommended after the age of 2).  I mean seriously, look at all of these: 

And that’s just the injections.  So many are for combined illnesses (MMR) or have many different strains (I believe the rotavirus one has 5).

I think that the pharmaceutical industry is doing an amazing job pushing vaccines.  They have state governments spending our tax dollars.  They have greeting card companies sending out immunization records.  They don’t spend money doing real research on the safety of these vaccines, and they try their darndest to suppress those who have had problems with them.

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think vaccines cause autism.  But I sure as heck think they can trigger it if your baby is a carrier for it.  I don’t think all vaccines are bad in all cases.  I just think there should be real safety studies, they shouldn’t all be pushed in all cases on every child, there should be true informed consent, and information on a natural immune system should be given!

So, I went to hallmark.com and searched “for america’s babies” and I contacted them, letting them know how upset I was that they were aiding the pharmaceutical industry in pushing vaccines.  I asked them to instead spend their donations providing breastfeeding awareness and support, which is actually proven to boost immunity and also decrease the chances of SIDS.  If this is something important to you, I encourage you to do the same thing.

Addition:  This page is difficult to access.  Here is a link to Hallmark’s FB page, you can contact them there!  Another great idea is to contact your local governor’s office.  It is actually your state that is paying for this, and they need to know their constituents are not happy with the way tax dollars are being spent! 

And, if you would like to learn more about vaccines, here is a great series from a mommy blogger who did a ton of research on the actual illnesses, their side effects and risks, and info on the vaccines.  It’s a lot of reading but it’s so worth it, she also provides where she got her information.  Modern Alternative Mama vaccine series.  And here is an article interviewing a pediatrician who is an expert in vaccines.

But overall, in anything recommended for your kids, be informed!  Read warning labels.  Research online.  Get your doctors to actually talk to you about stuff!  Yes, diseases are scary, but there are so many things that the pharmaceutical industry is hiding or not researching, like the SIDS link to vaccinations!

Addition: I don’t think this is a reason to boycott Hallmark or anything.  It’s just frustrating that there are so many ways that businesses can donate, and this one decides to jump onto the bandwagon that already does a great job of making alternative parents seem even more abnormal.  I’ll still buy Hallmark cards!

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