One Oregon County Wants to Force Farm to Spray Organic Crops with Toxic Glyphosate Herbicide

Sherman County may be issuing a Court Order on May 22, 2017, to quarantine Azure Farms and possibly to spray the whole farm with poisonous herbicides, contaminating them with Milestone, Escort and Roundup herbicides. This will destroy all the efforts Azure Farms has made for years to produce the very cleanest and healthiest food humanly possible. About 2,000 organic acres would be impacted; that is about 2.8 times the size of the City of London, England, and 1.5 times the size of the city center of Philadelphia that could be sprayed with noxious, toxic, polluting herbicides. The county would then put a lien on the farm to pay for the expense of the labor and chemicals used. Sherman County is changing the interpretation of its statutory code from controlling noxious weeds to eradicating noxious weeds. These weeds include Morning Glory, Canada Thistle, and Whitetop, all of which have been on the farm for many years, but that only toxic chemicals will eradicate.

New Bill Would Allow Farmers To Sue Monsanto If GMO Crops Invade Their Property

A bill introduced into the Oregon legislature would allow non-GMO farmers to sue biotech patent holders over trespass by their GMO crops if their crops were to spread on to their farms. HB 2739 survived a legal hurdle in April, when the bill was referred to the House Rules Committee, which isn’t subject to an April 18 legislative deadline that recently killed other proposals. The move could effectively allow HB 2739 to stay alive through the end of the 2017 legislative session, scheduled to end in late June.

Ten Year-old Girl with Cystic Fibrosis Medically Kidnapped in Oregon

Mariah Mumpower is a ten year old little girl with cystic fibrosis (CF) who was taken away from her mother by the Oregon Child Protective Services (CPS) in September 2015 during a routine visit to the CF clinic in Portland, Oregon. The shelter order allegedly claimed that her mother, Rhonda Mumpower, was neglecting her child because she was underweight. The seizure of her daughter also occurred shortly after she complained about the services at Doernbecher Children’s Hospital CF clinic in Portland, and stated that she wanted to find a different clinic to take her daughter to for medical services. Mariah was also asked to participate in a Harvard University backed research study on her rare form of cystic fibrosis.

Jackson County Oregon Farmers Win Battle for GMO-free Zone

Jackson County, Oregon, has just joined the small but growing ranks of “GE-free zones” in the U.S., which prohibit the cultivation of genetically engineered (GE) crops. It’s at least the eighth county in the country to create such an ordinance, and efforts are springing up to pass similar measures in other places. The Jackson County designation was made final on Dec. 22, when a federal judge approved a consent decree protecting the zone.

All Eyes on Jackson County Oregon as GMO Ban Survives Legal Challenge and Takes Effect

This past weekend (June 6, 2015) a historic ban on growing GMO crops went into effect in Jackson County, Oregon. The ban was the result of a ballot initiative in 2014, where citizens voted overwhelmingly to ban the growing of GMO crops in Jackson County, Oregon, by a 65.9% to 34.1% measure. This was seen as a significant victory, since the corporate opposition to the GMO ban spent over $1 million to try and defeat the measure. Just after the GMO ban ballot initiative was passed, two GMO alfalfa farmers sued Jackson County saying the GMO ban would cause them undue financial hardship and violated their constitutional rights. But a federal judge rejected their request to block the ban on May 30th. U.S. Magistrate Judge Mark Clarke ruled that the GMO ban is not pre-empted by Oregon's "right to farm" law. Non-GMO farmers now seem to have a clear path to sue GMO farmers if their crops are contaminated by GMO crops in Jackson County, which would be a first in the U.S.

Physician-Senator Continues Push to Make Oregon a Medical Police State

Oregon Senator Elizabeth Steiner Hayward is at it again. In February, Senator Hayward (who is a physician) introduced a bill to take away the right to informed consent and vaccine choice and mandate vaccines for all children statewide. The bill was vehemently opposed by her constituents in the state, and made national headlines. The bill was withdrawn as it did not have enough support in the State Legislature. Now, she has introduced a new bill, SB895, which would require schools to publish vaccination exemption rates by disease and get parents granted exemptions in the past to either consult their doctor or watch an educational video about the decision against vaccinating. This new bill passed the Senate Education Committee this week on a 4-3 party-line vote with Democrats in favor. Opposition from an informed constituent base that includes attorneys and physicians apparently means nothing to Dr. Elizabeth Steiner Hayward, who believes the entire state should be coerced into accepting her view, even though her first bill was overwhelmingly defeated. She's seems absolutely determined to make Oregon into a medical police state.

Medical Kidnap? Mother Loses 3 Children Because “Daughter is Too Short”

It's true - Angela Borths' daughter is short. So is she - just under 5 feet tall. In fact, being short runs in the family. But that didn't stop her pediatrician from allegedly reporting her to Child Protection Services (CPS.) The petite mother has now had her 3 youngest children taken by the state of Oregon on grounds of "medical neglect," because her 6 year old daughter is short, and because she says she missed an appointment for her son when there was a 2 month lapse in their ObamaCare insurance. "I shouldn't have to defend my family for being short."

Dr. Paul Thomas, M.D. – Preserve Medical Freedom – Vaccines Linked to Autism

Dr. Paul Thomas, M.D. is a board-certified fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics who resides in Oregon. He took time out to attend the public hearing before the Oregon Senate Committee on Health Care, regarding Bill SB 442. This bill was written by Oregon State Senator and physician Elizabeth Steiner Hayward, and seeks to remove all philosophical and religious exemptions to vaccines in the State of Oregon. Dr. Paul stated that this bill, as it is written, is "a travesty." He stated: "We need to protect our children and preserve the right for freedom of choice, and the right to give informed consent when your child is about to get a vaccine." In testimony before the Senate Committee, Dr. Paul stated that he does not give every vaccine to every child in his practice, and as a result, he has over 1000 children in his practice over the age of 3, and NONE of them have autism. The rest of the country is seeing a rate of about one out of 50 children on the autism spectrum. He states that the "science is not settled" linking too many vaccines to autism, and that doctors like himself should not be coerced by bills like this one proposed in Oregon to give up the right to informed consent in regards to vaccines.

Medical Tyranny in Action in Oregon: Doctor and Senator wants Medical Freedom for herself, but Not Oregon Citizens

At a recent public hearing in Oregon to discuss a new proposed law to take away informed consent and the ability of parents to refuse vaccines for religious and philosophical objections, attorney Robert Snee pointed out that the American Medical Association's own code of ethics allowed for religious and philosophical objections to vaccines among doctors. The sponsor of the bill in Oregon to take away parental rights to make these medical decisions for their children is also a doctor. When attorney Snee pointed out an article published in the American Academy of Family Physicians by the sponsor of bill, where she disagreed with her doctor and rejected his advice regarding a drug she was taking while breastfeeding her new born child, the hearing became quite interesting. The Oregon Senator and doctor who has sponsored this bill was sitting directly across from the attorney, and she became quite agitated. She basically argued that she had a right to make a "personal decision" for her and her baby based on her own research, which disagreed with the doctor who was a specialist in this area. She was angry at the attorney for bringing this matter up, but the attorney replied that he and other citizens of Oregon simply wanted the freedom to make the same medical decisions for their families. Medical tyranny in action in Oregon: watch it in this video.

Big Processed Food Companies and GMO Seed Companies Spend Millions to Stop GMO Labeling

Voters in Oregon and Colorado will soon decide if genetically modified foods should be required to carry a label informing consumers that they are buying GMOs. If you live in either Oregon or Colorado, click on the appropriate Right to Know logo above to get more information. GMO seed companies and processed food companies have spent millions of dollars on negative campaigning in each of these two states to try and prevent these ballet measures from passing.

Oregon wants to Map GMO Farms, but Biotech Companies Refuse to Reveal Locations of GMO Fields

Kristina Bravo of Takepart.com is reporting that the State of Oregon is trying to take action to map GMO fields to protect their non-GMO and organic industry. Oregon has been hit especially hard in this area, as an Oregon farmer last year found an unapproved GMO variety of wheat growing in his field. This immediately resulted in several countries around the world that import U.S. wheat putting a halt on U.S. shipments due to their total ban on GMO wheat, hurting the export market for non-GMO wheat, such as the varieties grown in Oregon and Washington. Most of the world market has restrictions or out right bans on GMO products. Gov. John Kitzhaber is directing the State’s agriculture department to chart where genetically modified crops are grown, so non-GMO farmers can plan accordingly and seek to minimize the damage from cross contamination. However, producers of GMO seeds such as Monsanto and Syngenta do not publicly disclose their field locations. These companies repeat the USDA assertion that GMO farmers and non-GMO farmers can "co-exist" and that mapping is not necessary. Polls show that an overwhelming majority of American consumers want GMO products labeled, and producers of GMO products fully understand that if their products are labeled as GMO in the market place, consumers will not buy them. In addition, most of the rest of the world will not import them. Apparently the U.S. Government and the Biotech industry have taken it upon themselves to decide what is best for America and the rest of the world, and have no qualms with polluting the entire U.S. agricultural system with their genetically modified products.

Oregon Citizens Overwhelming Vote to Enforce Ban on Cultivation of GMO Crops

I think the citizens of Jackson County in Oregon have taken the right approach towards GMOs: forget about trying to force companies to label them, just ban them outright! Despite the flood of corporate money poured into two small Oregon counties, local residents voted to ban genetically engineered crops from being planted within their borders. Although Jackson County itself is home to less than 120,000 registered voters, the measure to ban genetically modified crops (GMOs) made headlines around the nation when it was revealed that large biotech companies like Monsanto were pouring about 1 million dollars into the area in order to affect the vote’s outcome.

Farmer Fights Back: Sues State of Oregon For Ban on Free Speech in Advertising Raw Milk

An Oregon raw milk farmer is fighting back against Big Dairy and the state of Oregon for limiting her free speech. The state of Oregon allows limited sales of raw milk from the farm. Based on a law passed in 1999, if a farmer has 3 or less dairy cows, with no more than two lactating, they can sell raw milk directly to the public. Yet, in spite of these tight restrictions, the Oregon Dairy Farmers Association pushed for even more restrictions last year. So while it is still currently legal to sell raw milk from a 2-cow dairy farm, it is a criminal offense if you advertise your product. If a raw milk dairy farm even publishes the cost of their product online, they can face a year in jail and $6,250 in fines. All Oregon farmers who sell milk on the farm directly to consumers are prohibited from advertising the milk online, in fliers, via email or on signs. Being faced with the possibility of going out of business, Christina decided to fight back, with the help of the Institute for Justice, a civil liberties law firm based out of Alrington Virginia. This week they filed a suit against the Oregon Department of Agriculture in U.S. District Court in Portland, claiming farmers' Constitutional rights to free speech are being violated.