News from Oz: anti-vaxxer Anna Stancombe (Patel) goes wild on ex-husband.
This is the gist of what the media now publish:
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/nsw/antivaccine-mother-starts-go-fund-me-campaign-to-prevent-the-courts-from-enforcing-immunisation/news-story/7443717f63b392589d9cadad42a2d91d[*quote*]
NSW
Anti-vaccine mother starts Go Fund Me campaign to prevent the courts from enforcing immunisation
April 3, 2016 3:42am
JANE HANSEN
Regional reporter
The Sunday Telegraph
Anna Patel has launched an appeal to stop her ex-husband vaccinating their children. Picture: Facebook
AN anti-vaccine campaigner mum has started a crowd-funding appeal to stop her former partner from vaccinating their two children.
Anna Patel with baby Akira.
Anna Patel, from Caboolture in Queensland, posted an appeal on the Go Fund Me website asking for help to raise $10,000 for a lawyer to stop her “ex-partner from vaccinating”.
She wrote: “Both our children, now 7 and 3, have never been vaccinated and he knows that the issue is very important to me.
“He is now trying to force me through court to get the children vaccinated.
“No Solicitor will help without upfront fees of minimum $10,000. I need help to raise this money.”
So far, only three people have donated a total of $120.
The children’s father Anil Patel, 58, said he wanted the children vaccinated because he was concerned for their health.
“I am concerned about the kids not being vaccinated because of the rising incidence of some of these ailments,” Mr Patel said.
He said he had taken a back seat during the nine-year relationship with regards to vaccination but now feared the kids could catch vaccine-preventable diseases.
“I’ve had to step up now, my biggest concern is that they could catch these diseases,” he said. “This is what happens when parents separate and one wants to vaccinate and the other doesn’t.”
Anna Patel. Photo: Supplied
Last month, The Sunday Telegraph reported that Ms Patel, who also goes by her maiden name Anna Marie Stancombe, had allegedly encouraged fellow anti-vaccine parents to tell Centrelink that they were on a catch-up vaccination program to still obtain benefits despite the crackdown under the new No Jab No Pay laws which started in January.
The new laws strip parents of some family payments and the child care rebate if they refuse to vaccinate. Ms Patel denied the claims despite posting her tips on the Facebook site Vaccine Free Australia.
Tasha David, president of the Australian Vaccination-sceptics Network, has also publicised Ms Patel’s fundraiser on Facebook, stating that “so many parents go through this situation and their partners use vaccination as just another tool to force their will on the other parent, please support this family”.
Ms Patel refused to comment on the matter, saying only: “I’m not going to talk to you, you basically lie.”[*/quote*]