Anti-vaccine campaign submits signatures they lied to get

Opponents of Maine’s new immunization law say they’ll be submitting 77,000 signatures to Maine’s Secretary of State today, more than enough to place a people’s veto referendum on the March ballot. That’s unfortunate. A veto referendum campaign, while likely ultimately unsuccessful, will give anti-vaccine conspiracy theorists a platform to spread their false claims and dangerous propaganda in Maine.

It’s also unfortunate as it seems clear that vaccine opponents have engaged in a widespread campaign of misinformation about the effects of the vaccine bill and their own intentions in order to reach their signature goal.

Mainers from across the state have taken to social media over the last few weeks to complain that they were told by signature gatherers that the petition was a “vote on mandatory vaccines” or in some cases even a “pro-vaccine petition,” leading many to believe that they were signing in favor of vaccine protections.

“We were going into the Old Navy store in Freeport and we’re stopped by a man and asked if we were registered voters in Maine. We said yes and he asked if we would sign a petition to get mandatory vaccines on the ballot. My mom said she was for vaccines and asked if it was ‘hiding’ something else and he said no, just about mandatory vaccines,” explained Melissa Sage, who works in pediatric care. “I said I thought the governor already signed that, and so took the petition and when I read it I realized it was to reverse the mandatory vaccines.”

In addition to misrepresenting the overall intention of their campaign, signature gatherers also often apparently made false claims about specific provisions of the law, including insisting that it removes medical exemptions to vaccine requirements in addition to philosophical and religious exemptions.

“These signature collectors lied to my face every time I spoke to them, falsely claiming the People’s Veto would bring back the medical exemption – which was not removed by the Maine Legislature,” tweeted University of Maine Political Science professor and Bangor Daily News columnist Amy Fried, who said she encountered petition gatherers multiple times on campus.

Fried is very familiar with the law (as am I, my state representative, who also happens to be my brother, wrote it) and knows that it maintains exemptions to vaccinations for medical reasons, such as for people with compromised immune systems. In fact, the law expands the list of medical providers who can issue exemptions, including nurse practitioners and physician assistants alongside physicians.

Alyce Ornella, a resident of Bath, posted a video to Facebook of her encounter with a signature gatherer outside a Dollar Tree store in Brunswick who made this same claim. The petitioner, who doesn’t identify himself and whose face isn’t shown in the video, repeatedly says that the newly-passed law eliminates medical exemptions to vaccines as well as philosophical and religious exemptions. He refuses to say whether he lives in Maine or if he was paid to gather petitions.

My favorite report of an encounter with petition gatherers, however, was when they tried to run their game on Dora Anne Mills, the former head of Maine’s CDC, who now serves as Chief Health Improvement Officer for MaineHealth. She’s also the sister of Governor Janet Mills, who signed the vaccine bill into law.

“She blatantly said and repeated that her petition was a ‘pro-vaccine’ petition, and even agreed with me that our vaccine rates are too low to maintain herd immunity,” Mills said, describing her encounter with a signature gatherer outside the Forest Avenue Hannaford in Portland. “An older lady was starting to sign the petition, and said she only was signing it because ‘it was the pro-vaccine petition’ (the label the petitioner had used). When I pointed out that there is only one vaccine-related petition and it is to repeal the law, she stopped signing. The signature gatherer was clearly using deception to get the woman’s signature.”

These widespread reports may not lead to the invalidation of these petitions, but they should be considered by voters if this measure makes it to the ballot. Future arguments made by vaccine opponents should be taken with an enormous grain of salt, given these and the many other false claims they have already made about this important public health issue.

Their claims will, at the very least, not go unrefuted. Maine Families for Vaccines, a volunteer parent-led advocacy group, announced today that it has formed a political action committee to contest the referendum.

“Vaccines are one of the most effective ways that parents can protect their children and help them to lead a healthy life,” said Caitlin Gilmet, a spokesperson for the organization. “Improving Maine’s immunization rates helps to protect the entire community from preventable diseases. We trust that Maine voters will agree if vaccine opponents place a People’s Veto on the March ballot.”

I share that trust. In a strange way, I’m actually encouraged that vaccine opponents had to lie so blatantly to obtain these signatures. Most Maine people obviously aren’t with them, and that doesn’t bode well for their campaign.

(Photo: Fiona Goodall | Getty Images)