A Vote for Prop 37 is a Vote for Freedom

Many of you have probably heard about Proposition 37, a California ballot initiative that would require Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) or products made from them to be labeled. While you might not think Prop 37 has anything to do with vaccinations, it does. Here’s why.

The folks fighting against Prop 37 claim that GMOs are perfectly safe. They also claim that you don’t have the right to know whether a food is GMO or contains GMOs because you might be misguided by your fear and choose not to eat them, even though they say GMOs are perfectly safe and they have many studies they funded to prove this. They seem to feel that because they say GMOs are safe and because they have science that “proves” this, you should not have the right to decide for yourself whether to eat them.

Sound familiar? Most likely. It is the same argument often made by the media, vaccine makers, promoters and regulators about vaccines. Just because they say vaccines are perfectly safe, and because they have many industry and government sponsored studies to “prove” vaccines are safe, you should just roll up your sleeve and do as you are told. Never mind all the kids with learning disabilities, allergies, autoimmune issues, autism, and behavioral problems, not to mention the 200 research papers and case reports linking all these things to vaccines. Those things are all coincidence.

And what if they are all just coincidence? What if vaccines don’t cause harm to anyone? What if GMOs really can feed the world? Does that mean we should not have the right to choose? Shouldn’t we all just be quiet, do as we are told, and even pressure others to fall into line too? Absolutely not. Because surely there is no right more sacred than the right to decide for ourselves what we put into our bodies – by eating, injection, or any other mechanism. No corporation or government official is responsible for or has to live with your decisions – only you do. And you alone must take responsibility for your decisions and your wellbeing. If someone else can force you to do something to your own body against your will, then you are not free.

But before you can take responsibility for your own decisions, you must be informed about the pros and cons of any decision. If you don’t know the health outcomes of vaccinated versus unvaccinated groups (because it has never been studied), how can you make an informed choice regarding vaccination? And if GMOs aren’t labeled and you don’t know the long term impact of GMOs on humans (because no human studies have been done), how can you make an informed choice about GMOs?

The principle of informed consent has two parts: first, that you have the information needed to make an informed decision, and second, that you are free to make that decision.  If we don’t have the information required to make informed decisions and we are not free to exercise our rights regarding what we inject into our bodies, as well as what we eat, we are not truly free. That is why the team at THE GREATER GOOD hopes all of you in California will vote ‘yes’ for Prop 37 and urge others to do so as well. Because we must all have both the information and the freedom to exercise our own rights – whether one supports or opposes GMOs or vaccines.