New bills introduced throughout the US. Will you and your family be affected? State-based action alerts!
It’s the beginning of many states’ legislative sessions, and there are a number of bills being considered that could affect your access to naturopaths, nutritionists, and supplements, as well as vaccine choice. Check below to see if your state is one of them, and click the link to take action!
Dietetics
ANH believes that the market for nutrition services should be open and transparent, where consumers can decide for themselves the level of education and experience, and the kind of training they prefer in a nutrition professional. Too often, particular trade associations, such as the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (AND), the trade association for Registered Dieticians, try to exclude other professionals from practicing and instead create a monopoly for one particular type of professional. In practice this often means that practitioners who don’t ascribe to a narrow set of conventional practices are unable to compete. ANH supports state bills that allow nutrition professionals to practice to the full extent of their knowledge and training. Click on your state to take action below.
Oppose:
New York SB 2231 provides for licensure of dieticians and nutritionists but does not allow unlicensed practitioners to practice “medical nutrition therapy”—meaning that unlicensed individuals could not provide consumers with information related to specific conditions, which we believe is overly restrictive and does not allow all professionals to practice to the full extent of their education and training.
Florida SB 758/HB 561 restricts who can provide diabetes self-management training to someone who is registered and is a certified diabetes educator from the American Association of Diabetes Educators (AADE). This unfairly restricts the market for diabetes education to those certified to the AADE. Patients should be afforded the choice to seek advice from the practitioner best suited to help them, and not have their choices arbitrarily limited by the state government. It is also not the government’s role to deliver business to the AADE, and help them win a monopoly over the diabetes education field.
Support:
Florida HB 1047 opens up the practice of nutrition in the state. The bill allows health coaches, holistic professionals, nutritional therapy practitioners, and others to provide nutrition services, advice, and recommendations without needing a license.
Naturopathic Licensure
ANH believes that naturopathic doctors (NDs) who have been educated at accredited naturopathic, four-year medical schools should be able to practice medicine consistent with that training. This involves a licensure program that provides a scope of practice similar to a conventional medical doctor, keeping in mind that NDs expertise is in natural approaches to health and healing. However, an ANH-supported licensure law for NDs would not exclude traditional naturopaths – those trained by other institutions – from practicing. Although they would not have the same scope as naturopathic doctors, they would be free to continue their current practices. ANH believes that natural health practitioners should be able to practice to the full extent of their training and experience, and consumers—not the government—should decide which credentials they prefer when seeking natural health services.
Support:
Pennsylvania SB 834 sets up a licensure program for naturopathic doctors and defines their scope of practice, while still allowing traditional naturopaths to continue to practice.
Minnesota HB 1138/SB 1514 sets up a licensure program for naturopathic doctors and defines their scope of practice, while still allowing traditional naturopaths to continue to practice.
Supplements
Supplements are a key component of natural medicine. ANH defends consumer access to quality dietary supplements and opposes state efforts to restrict consumer access.
Oppose:
Massachusetts HB 1195 would force retailers to place supplements marketed for weight-loss and muscle-building behind sales counters, accessible only by store managers or pharmacists, and available only to those who are 18 years of age and older. The major problem with this bill is that we just don’t know how many supplements will fall under its loosely defined categories. Will your protein powder suddenly become over the counter? Or consider weight-loss supplements: will they include natural laxatives? This law will force people into the embarrassing situation of having to announce needing a laxative for a health condition they have—some might even stop buying products they need to avoid this embarrassment. Will probiotics be considered “weight-loss” supplements? We just don’t know, which is why this bill must be opposed.
Vaccines
Many states will be considering bills that limit vaccine choice, whether by eliminating or restricting exemptions or mandating vaccines for children or certain workers. Patients deserve a right to decide which medical treatments to receive, especially when there are safety concerns. There is plenty of scientific data that throws the safety of vaccine ingredients into serious question.
Florida: S 1558/HB 1343 adds HPV to the list of vaccines required for school.
Hawaii: HB 779 would establish a philosophical belief exemption to vaccination.
Iowa: HF 261 and SF 116 would restrict or eliminate the religious belief exemption for parents who don’t want their children to be vaccinated. Support HF 7, which would add a personal exemption to vaccination.
Illinois: SB 741 and HB 2984 would require healthcare workers to get the flu shot and allow any facility licensed by the health dept. to mandate flu vaccines for health care personnel, respectively.
Kansas: HB 2205 would mandate the meningitis vaccine for school children.
Maine: LD 1664 and LD 272/HP 205 mandate the meningitis vaccine for school children.
MN: HF 2379/SF 1994 and SF 1129/HF 2469 would allow minors to consent to HPV vaccination.
Minnesota: SB 760 requires flu vaccines for healthcare workers. SB 741 creates a new law that no mercury-containing vaccines can be administered to children; and HB 1560 prohibits discrimination against unvaccinated children.
Mississippi: SB 2059, HB 47, and HB 414 would establish religious and philosophical belief exemptions to vaccination, allow adults to deny vaccines, and prohibit Hep B vaccination at birth unless parents request it.
New Hampshire: HB 1503 would allow minors to consent to all medical procedures, including vaccination.
New Jersey: S941, A1847, and A3968/S2332 mandate the meningitis vaccine for college students, the HPV vaccine for sixth through twelfth graders, and mandate vaccines for healthcare workers.
New York: S52/A1810, S3546, A2469, A1230, A933, A738, and S132 would eliminate or restrict the religious belief exemption for parents who don’t want their children to be vaccinated, mandate certain vaccines, including the incredibly dangerous HPV vaccine, and allow health care workers to administer the HPV/Hep B vaccine to minors without parental consent. S163 strengthens and expands the medical exemption to vaccination.
Oklahoma: SB 1123 would eliminate all exemptions to vaccines except for an extremely restrictive medical exemption. There is also a resolution SJR 57, that would put a question on the next general election ballot about eliminating all non-medical exemptions to vaccines.
Oregon: HB 4157 would mandate the meningitis vaccine for school children.
Pennsylvania: SB 217 would eliminate the conscientious belief exemption, making it more difficult for concerned parents to protect their children.
Rhode Island: H5681 would eliminate the religious belief exemption for parents who don’t want their children to be vaccinated. SB 47 adds a personal belief exemption to vaccines, and H5986 adds a personal belief and philosophical exemption.
Virginia: HB 664 would mandate the meningitis vaccine for school children.
West Virginia: SB 318 would require all healthcare workers to get the flu shot every year. HB 2945 and SB 330 would establish religious and conscientious belief exemptions to vaccination.
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