Protecting America in the War Against Terror

		make mothering.com your home page
subscription services	discuss \| experts \| activism \| news \| book reviews \| peggy's kitchen \| poems \| shopping guide

current issue

pregnancy & birth | new baby | growing child | body & soul

editorial columns

family tools

community features

	growing child child health

Protecting America in the War Against Terror Act of 2005

Related Articles:
Article: The Mercury is Rising: And Activists are Turning Up the Heat
Sidebar: Tuna Safety
Sidebar: The Mercury is Rising - Take Action!

Under the title, “Protecting America in the War on Terror,” 8 Republican senators are cosponsoring U.S. Senate Bill 3, which, if passed, would represent a significant setback to those fighting for vaccine safety. While proposing to raise the death gratuity for families of soldiers killed in Iraq from $12,000 to $100,000 and increase other military benefits, the bill would also prevent veterans from seeking compensation for adverse vaccine reactions such as those some recently suffered after anthrax and small pox inoculations.

Article continues below

Embedded within the 134-page bill are provisions that bear striking resemblance to the ones that massive public outcry helped remove from the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (see article). The Protecting America in the War Against Terror Act of 2005 would:

overhaul the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program, making financial recompense or legal recourse even more difficult for families of children who have suffered vaccine injury
restrict public access to vaccine policy meetings and reports, and to information about vaccine research, vaccine production, and vaccine regulations, currently accessible through the rights granted by the Freedom of Information Act
nullify state efforts to ban mercury from vaccines, and prevent states from warning citizens about the risks of mercury-containing vaccines

For now, public criticism may be helping to prevent the bill from winning additional support. It has not gained a cosponsor since February.
For up-to-date information on the status of this bill, and to contact your senator to voice your opposition, see www.senate.gov.