As we finished week 6, we are now 2/3 done with the 2020 legislative session. This week Thursday, February 27th is Cross Over Day in which every bill has to be moved out of the legislative body it originated in and then go to the other chamber for action.

Some of the bills you might be interested in may include HB1257 which will revise certain provisions regarding hunting, fishing or trapping on private property without permission. This bill puts a fine at $500 for anyone who is hunting, fishing or trapping on private property without permission. They also still lose their hunting, fishing or trapping privileges for a year. This passed the House 62-1.

HB1117 is a bill to repeal and revise certain provisions regarding riot, to establish the crime of incitement to riot and to revise provision. This bill upholds the first Amendment while repealing code the federal court shut down. It codifies an individual’s right to free speech and updates riot and riot-boosting civil actions to keep citizens and their property safe. It only pertains to situations with imminent violence and adds the penalty of a felony. The bill passed the House 45-25 and moves to the Senate.

I want to take time to give you some information about HB1235 and why I have brought a bill that relates to great emotion and concern. I have great respect for medical professionals and educators. I have also learned a great amount from experts who have studied this as medical professionals, as lawyers, as educators, as parents and as government officials and I would like to share some of this info with you.

HB1235 is a medical freedom bill. It is unfortunate that this bill is getting the name of the anti vaxx bill. I am not opposed to vaccinations; they have saved millions of lives. What I am talking about is the freedom to decide if you want to get all the vaccinations as scheduled, some of the vaccinations or none of the vaccinations and use a different way to increase the immune system in yourself and/or children. Some folks fear that if vaccines are not mandated that no one will get them. Japan took away the mandates on vaccines in the 1990’s. The number of people getting vaccinations has not decreased, but they are getting them at a spread-out schedule as the parents decide. The country of Japan has the healthiest children in the developed world while the US, which has the most aggressive vaccination schedule in number and timing, starting at pregnancy, has the highest infant mortality rate in all the industrialized countries. Canada also has no mandates on vaccines and yet 90% of the population is vaccinated.

Other concerns I have heard is if we take away mandates there will be great outbreaks of measles and other diseases that will kill people. In the past 2.5 decades, there has not been one death from measles of a child who had not been vaccinated. There were 3 deaths from the measles of children who had been vaccinated. Fox news reported in January this year that a school in Houston, TX closed its doors because of a whooping cough outbreak. The school had a 100% vaccination rate of the children attending, so all who got the whooping cough had been vaccinated for it.

The CDC listing of ingredients in vaccinations include aborted fetal cell lines. This alone should make those who are prolife have concern. (If you would like the info on this please text me and I will forward it to you)

I have heard so many stories of children being permanently injured by vaccinations that it is amazing. The autism in this country is past the epidemic stage. The incidence of autism used to be 1 in 10,000 in 1970 and now it is 1 in 36. Some say that there is no relationship between vaccines and autism, that the reason for this is we are better able to diagnose this disease. There was one study done that said autism was not linked to vaccinations, but there are 24 Government studies that I have run off that say autism is linked to vaccinations. (I can send you that list if you want) Stephany Seneff, PhD from MIT studied this and found that if the current rate of autism in the US continues, by 2032 there will be 1 out of every 2 children affected with autism and 80% of all boys will have autism.

The vaccine schedule now is very different than when I was young. In 1960 there were 5 doses given (Polio, Smallpox and DPT). In 1983 it was up to 24 doses. And in 2018 it is up to 72 doses for children. The US gives 2-3 times more vaccines to children than most developed countries, yet we have skyrocketing rates of childhood issues that are not seen in other countries. Things like asthma, childhood diabetes, food allergies, childhood leukemia, developmental delays, ADHD, autism, lupus, arthritis, eczema, epilepsy, brain damage, etc. There is talk of moving it to 200 doses by the year 2030 and making it mandatory for everyone, including adults, to take them. The drug companies are not responsible for any damage done by vaccinations. There was a Federal law passed in 1986 that gave them immunity. There has been over $4.2 billion paid out in damages by tax money for vaxx injuries (a study from Harvard University states that less than 1% of cases of vaxx injuries have been reported) and the pharmaceutical companies are protected from the liability.

This bill addresses all medical freedom for parents and adults alike. There was a child in a large western SD city that was getting chemo for cancer. What I have been told is the chemo caused the child to code and they had to resuscitate the child. The parents asked to not give the same med, change the dose, or do something different than give the same thing that caused their child to code. The Dr had them charged and all medical rights taken away from the parent. There was another person in an eastern SD city who was scheduled for surgery and had not had a flu shot. The Dr demanded it and when the patient refused to get the shot, they discharged that person without doing the needed surgery. There is an electrician who worked for a company who contracted with a medical facility in an eastern SD city. That person was told to get a flu shot to continue working in the medical facility. He refused the shot and asked his company if they would assign someone else to the medical facility and reassign him to a different location. His company fired him for asking.

This is America with freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution. We all should have the right to say what is being injected into our bodies and our children’s bodies without fear or threat of losing jobs, not getting needed medical care, or other rights including parental rights being taken away. This is only three of many examples I have been told.

This bill is about freedom that is protected in our constitution. It affirms that each citizen has the right to choose or reject any medical procedure, free from threat or compulsion, and shall not be discriminated against for refusing an unwanted medical intervention. It reinforces and protects freedom for every citizen’s own bodily autonomy and that of our precious children.

I thank you again for granting me the honor of serving District 21 and the State of SD as your Representative. Feel free to contact me by email lee.qualm@sdlegislature.gov or by phone (605) 207-0406 anytime with your thoughts, questions or ideas. Praying you have a wonderful week!

Blessings!

Representative Lee Qualm

House Majority Leader

Chairman State Affairs Committee

Legislative Procedures Committee