Marylanders Rally Against Baseless COVID-19 Vaccine Mandate for State College Students
by Doug Mainwaring, LifeSiteNews
May 27, 2021.
ANNAPOLIS, Maryland, May 27, 2020 (LifeSiteNews) – Citizens from all over Maryland descended on the state capital to protest an unconstitutional order mandating all students and employees in the University of Maryland system receive coronavirus vaccines before returning to school this fall.
“I’m opposed to mandating anyone to get this vaccination,” Maryland House Delegate Lauren Arikan told LifeSite’s Jim Hale, who was on the scene. “It’s still in its infancy in terms of research, and mandating things that are under emergency use authorization is inappropriate.”
Arikan said that families who have always gotten their children the full schedule of vaccines are saying, “‘Look, I gave my child every recommended vaccination. This one is not on the schedule for a reason: It hasn’t been studied yet, and so I’m not giving it to my child.’”
Arikan noted that these parents are pulling their money out of the state. “They’re not going to send their kids to a Maryland school now. That’s a big deal and we need the governor to listen to that.”
“The separation of people is a very bad idea. If you’re already vaxxed, you’re fine. You don’t have to worry about unvaccinated people,” said one young man who was holding an American flag.
“I just feel like this is just a straight up abuse of rights, abuse of power, and they need to be reeled back. Hard,” he advised. “Be strong. Stand up for yourself. And stop listening to the rules. Believe in yourself, not just the government.”
“Forced consent isn’t consent,” said one young woman.
“It’s not good to force a vaccine on people that hasn’t been sufficiently tested,” said another. “And with the moral concerns with aborted cell lines just doesn’t sound like a good idea.”
“It hasn’t even been FDA approved,” noted her friend, who indicated that people who have had serious negative reactions to the vaccine are being pushed out of sight.
“There’s a big temptation to just go ahead and take the vaccination rather than look into it,” she continued. “I feel it’s important to not just rush into it and be smart about it.”
A woman who has three kids – each of whom has had and recovered from COVID-19 – enrolled at three different Maryland university campuses said she worries about the side effects of the vaccine.
“I worry about the results of the vaccine. I know what the result of having COVID was for them because they’ve lived through it,” she said. Taking a vaccine that is not fully tested “is too big of a risk.”
“The safety trials won’t be completed until 2023,” she noted.
A man at the rally whose wife is an employee at the University of Maryland said that administrators told her in an email that they want her to be vaccinated by August 1.
“She is being threatened ‘get the vaccination or lose (your) job,’” he said.
“I’m here to protest the mandate that all University of Maryland system students have to take this experimental shot in order to go to classes on campus,” said Linda Kouroupis of Ellicott City, Maryland. “I think it’s wrong.”
“I’m very upset,” she continued. “I had a daughter go to College Park, my husband is an alumnus, I’m an alumnus of the grad school. I think it’s totally wrong. I’m doing as much as I can to stop it.”
“This is not going to stop after tonight,” she promised.
Another woman who introduced herself “as a mom and a grandmom” told LifeSite that mandating the vaccine for young people seems counterintuitive, especially since the risk from side effects is worse than the risk from contracting the virus.
“Is Big Pharma pushing this?” she wondered. “Why would you give somebody your money when all they want to do is give your kids an experimental shot?”
“The state law is very clear that you don’t have to take an experimental vaccine. That’s federal law as well,” said Maryland House Delegate Dan Cox, who explained that what is being attempted in the Old Line State is illegal.
“So when they’re talking about mandating and limiting students who exercise their rights for a medical, religious, or flat-out exemption that state law allows for college students … it’s not going to fly. That’s an illegality,” he said.
“Speak up. Don’t let anyone silence you or intimidate you into this,” said Cox. “You have a right to your own personal integrity. All you have to do is exercise it. Don’t waive those rights.”
“And when someone asks you if you’ve been vaxxed with this experiment, just smile back and remind them that’s your privacy,” he advised. “They don’t have a right to ask.”
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