Tuesday, April 28, 2015

California One Step Closer to Eliminating Vaccine Exemptions

Other states are considering similar moves. We need to act before a dangerous precedent is set for the rest of the country. Urgent, multi-state Action Alerts!

Last week, the California Education Committee voted in favor of SB 277, a bill that would eliminate all personal belief exemptions to vaccination. Under this law, the only way for a child to attend public school without being vaccinated would be through a very difficult to get medical waiver. We and others issued alerts to our California members, but the large number of messages against the bill did not turn the tide in a committee stacked with proponents.

The bill’s next stop is the Senate Judiciary Committee, where most of the members are either co-sponsors of the bill or have already voted for it. If approved in the Judiciary Committee, it would then get a Senate floor vote before moving into a General Assembly Committee, then to the General Assembly floor, and then to the governor’s desk to be signed into law.

SB 277 was first heard in the Education Committee on April 15, when over 700 protestors opposing the legislation flooded the state Capitol. During public testimony, about fifty members of the public spoke in favor of the bill for six minutes; news reports said that opponents dressed in matching red shirts testified for nearly two hours, “lining up out of the hearing room and convening in stairwells,” forcing the committee to delay a vote as they tinkered with some of the provisions.

On April 22, SB 277 was on the agenda again, but as a “vote only” item so that the public could not weigh in again. The bill passed by a vote of 7–2, clearing it for the Judiciary Committee on April 28. Two of the representatives who voted in favor, including the bill’s author, Richard Pan, take political money from Big Pharma. Two others in favor take money from health professionals, who often have financial incentives to vaccinate as many of their patients as possible.

It is imperative that we kill this as soon as possible. The more success this bill has as it winds its way through California’s legislative process, the more proponents of similar legislation in other states will be emboldened to continue their efforts to needlessly force vaccinations on our children. There are already scores of bills in states across the country to remove exemptions and mandate certain vaccines for public school attendance.

The current mania of anti-exemption bills was triggered by measles outbreaks at Disneyland—outbreaks that included vaccinated children and may in fact have been set off by vaccinated children, because the live vaccine virus can be contagious, and vaccine immunity may be weak and in any case does not last. We have already pointed out that no one has died of measles in recent times, while children have died from the vaccine. The media have done an excellent job in ratcheting up unwarranted fear. Let’s keep in mind that there have been under 200 cases of measles in a population of 320 million people.

Urgent Action Alert! California residents, write and call your representatives and tell them to vote NO on SB 277! Please send your message immediately.

Take-Action

Other state-based Action Alerts! Check below to see if your state is considering legislation to eliminate vaccine exemptions, and take action immediately!

Connecticut

Illinois

Maine

Minnesota

New Jersey

Pennsylvania

Rhode Island

Texas

Vermont



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