The Fallout from California SB 277: What Happens Next? by Dawn Richardson, NVIC Director of Advocacy

The Fallout from California SB 277: What Happens Next?

by Dawn Richardson, NVIC Director of Advocacy The California Legislature passed and on June 29, 2015 Governor Jerry Brown signed California Senate Bill 277 into law. The law, which does not take effect until July 1, 2016, removes the personal belief vaccine exemption for children attending daycare and public and private schools. Despite some of the most articulate, accurate, passionate and vocal opposition the legislature has seen from citizens spanning all political, socioeconomic, ethnic, religious, and medical backgrounds, a pro-mandatory vaccination lobby backed by the pharmaceutical, medical trade and public health industries prevailed. Education for California public and private school children and day care attendees is now dependent upon receipt of multiple doses of 10 federally recommended and state mandated vaccines regardless of a parent's personal belief or religious belief objections. California Stands Alone Against the backdrop of the rest of the United States, California stands alone in the minority. Out of the 11 states that had bill filed to remove either the personal belief/conscientious/philosophical or religious exemptions during the 2015 legislative cycle (CA, ME, NC, OK, OR, PA, RI, TX, VT and WA), California was the only state where the legislature passed a bill leaving only the medical exemption. Vermont retained a broad religious exemption while removing the philosophical exemption and the other nine states rejected the removal of any non-medical exemption.   Read the rest of this article and make a comment here.

NVIC in the News

Secular Group Takes on Oregon's Religious Vaccine Exemptions. Barbara Loe Fisher of the National Vaccine Information Center said religious exemptions are a constitutional issue. "If we do not have non-medical exemptions that allow us to exercise our freedom to have religious beliefs, have conscientious beliefs with regard to using a pharmaceutical product like a vaccine ...then we are not really free," she said. Oregon Public Radio Aug. 4, 2015.  California Law Mandates for School Aged Children, No Belief Exemptions. Opponents of the bill, including parents of vaccine-injured children and those worried about safety, insist there has been inadequate consideration of the harmful effects of vaccines. "All vaccines carry a risk of death and serious injury or disease," said Barbara Loe Fisher of the Sterling, Va.-based National Vaccine Information Center. "Doctors cannot tell who is going to be affected." National Catholic Register Aug. 1, 2015. Vaccination Rate High Among Children in Tennessee, Georgia. Barbara Fisher, president of the National Vaccine Information Center, said parents should not be told whether or not they need to vaccinate their kids. The center advocates for increased exemptions, believing it is important for parents to have the right and ability to choose whether their children are vaccinated. "These vaccines do carry the risk of injury and death," Fisher said, " and science has not defined who is or who is not at risk from the vaccinations." Fisher believes the current medical exemptions in Tennessee and Georgia are too narrow, and leave out numerous conditions and reasons that a child shouldn't be vaccinated. She said every state should offer a philosophical or conscientious exemption so parents can decide what is best for their children. Times Free Press (TN), Aug. 1, 2015. Doctors Push to Eliminate Most Child Vaccine Exemptions. That point of view faces stiff opposition from organizations that oppose mandatory vaccinations. The National Vaccine Information Center points out that medical exemptions are hard to come by. It says that in 2014, all 50 states allowed a medical vaccine exemption; 48 states allowed a religious vaccine exemption, and 17 states allowed a philosophical, conscientious, or personal belief exemption. Consumer Affairs July 30, 3015. NM Bill to End Immunization Exemptions Killed. The National Vaccine Information Center (NVIC) informs parents. "Medical exemptions are also allowed." NVIC urged parents to firmly stand up and take action against multiple bills in state legislatures aimed at removing immunization exemptions, maintaining that parents must retain the choice when it comes to protecting their family's health and safety. OneNewsNow.com July 28, 2015. Which Vaccination Exemptions Are Allowed by Montana? The National Vaccine Information Center website includes a comprehensive guide to Montana vaccination exemptions. That website noted that the state's religious exemption includes sincerely held personal religious beliefs and is not limited to established traditional religion. The law also says that anyone who falsely claims a religious exemption is subject to penalty. Newsmax July 26, 2015. 21st Century Cures Act risks public health."The 21st Century Cures Act is a drug company stockholder's dream and a consumer's worst nightmare," Barbara Loe Fisher, NVIC co-founder and president, said. "Making experimental drugs quickly available for the sick and dying, who voluntarily choose to use them, is one thing but Congress should not be greasing the skids to license experimental vaccines that government will recommend and legally require healthy children and adults to use. It is a prescription for disaster." Vaccine News Daily July 23, 2015.

On NVIC's Website You Can Report and Share Your Vaccine Experiences

On our website you can make a report to NVIC's 33-year old Vaccine Reaction Registry and/or publicly post a vaccine reaction report with a photo on the Memorial for Vaccine Victims.

On the Vaccine Failure Wall, you can describe your experience if a vaccine failed to protect you or your child from disease.

If you were bullied, threatened or punished by a doctor, government official or employer for making an independent vaccine choice for yourself or your child, you can post a report on the Cry for Vaccine Freedom Wall