Texas measles outbreak update: 124 cases, 18 hospitalized, & now the first death of a child, who was not vaccinated.

Tragic, preventable, & a direct consequence of the deadly lies spread by anti-vaxx grifters, one of whom is now the most powerful health official in the US.

@luckytran I find it shocking that parents can legally choose not to vaccinate their kids against diseases that can be deadly or disabling. It seems like it falls under the same area as refusing to get a kid available medical care.

@distinctm1nd @luckytran

it absolutely should be, but it gets into creepy shit like religion.

@mav @luckytran yes, however, as far as I know it is illegal to deny life saving medical care even in the name of religion?
@mav @luckytran hmm. I'll have to read up on it. :(

@distinctm1nd
@luckytran

I can send you some sources but I'm not going to unless you specifically ask for them. It is unpleasant.

Honestly it's something that a lot of us wish did not exist at all.

@mav @luckytran yes, send me the details

@distinctm1nd @luckytran

Many states in the mountain west have faith healing exemptions (or have had, until recently) but Idaho's is the broadest and by far the one that is most likely to stay forever.

I was looking for one particular article and I will update this if I find it. But this is a good start:

Starting point https://idahochildren.org/

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/apr/13/followers-of-christ-idaho-religious-sect-child-mortality-refusing-medical-help'

https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2022/mar/14/how-faith-healing-exemptions-remain-in-idaho-and-w/

The Oregonian has done a lot of work with this issue and how it relates to Oregon specifically https://www.oregonlive.com/clackamascounty/2009/06/faithhealing_deaths_previous_s.html

https://www.aol.com/decade-inaction-children-still-dying-110000755.html

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7177248/

At least in Idaho, this is still a real problem, I don't know about other states. In Idaho, it is absolutely legal to kill your child through inaction but not to have an abortion even if it'll kill you to not have one. According to friends in Boise, most of the time, if a pregnant person comes in needing a medically necessary abortion, they are dispatched to somewhere in an adjoining state, as no hospitals are willing to test Idaho's awful "life of the mother" non-exception exception.

HOME - CHILD ABUSE in IDAHO: Deadly & Legal

Child abuse in Idaho--the worst state in the nation for letting children die with religion-based medical neglect.

CHILD ABUSE in IDAHO: Deadly & Legal
@mav @luckytran I had no idea this problem existed. I've always known there were people who refused to get life saving medical treatment for their kids because of religion but I thought it was illegal. I didn't know it was so state dependent. I think that companion animals have better protections in some states than this. So much for caring about children. Don't even know what to say.

@distinctm1nd
@luckytran

Sorry for ruining it for you ☹️

@mav @luckytran also, their comment about how people just think they are uneducated and stupid. I'm sorry but you kind of are if you're letting your kid suffer and die from an infection that is easily treated with antibiotics.

@distinctm1nd @luckytran

yeah, I don't think they're uneducated and stupid so much as they are intentionally cruel.

There's a lot of cruel smart people. Playing it off as "oh, well they're stupid" is just a way to minimize their harm.

And I typed that without really thinking about how it applies to literally everything that's happening right now