Tuesday, March 31, 2015

ALERT: Proposed Bill Removes Philosophical Exemption From Vaccines


UPDATE: [April 7, 2015]

The text to House Bill 883 is finally available for viewing. Our goal is still to kill the bill. Representatives Corbin and Schlossberg's goal to pass it is first, to get it voted out of committee.

Right now, our main focus is to contact all 26 members of the Health Committee, especially Chair and Representative Matt Baker. If we can get a simple majority dissent, they will not put it for a vote. If we can get Rep. Baker to see the danger in this bill, and hear enough outcry from the State, he will not put it in the agenda.

Should it make it out of Health Com, our work will be much harder. We will need to reach out to all 203 members of the House next. Add to that, bills that get voted out of committee gain significant momentum.

When the memorandum was circulated and based on what they said at the press conference attended by CHAP's legislative coordinator, Corbin and Schlossberg only wanted to eliminate the philosophical exemption. Now that the bill text is out, this legislation clearly makes religious exemption more difficult to secure. Personal experience and those of many others we've heard from prove that getting a medical exemption is not that simple either.

We need to STOP the growing usurpation of parental rights from the government whose job is to secure our liberties. Call and email them now. All you have to say is, "Please vote NO on HB883." You may state a fact or a personal story but keep it brief and to the point. We should also demand that they hold a public hearing before they vote it out of committee. 

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In February 2015, action was taken by members of the Pennsylvania legislature to remove the option of "Philosophical Exemption" from vaccines from the PA Code.

We are asking everyone to help. The former pharmaceutical chemist, Rep. Becky Corbin, and her co-sponsor from across the aisle, Rep. Mike Schlossberg, is pushing to pass the bill behind the scene - distributing texts in the absence of a bill.

Even now, they are trying to see if they have enough votes; and I suspect that once they feel confident with the numbers, they will quickly try to get a committee vote so their opponents don't get enough warning.

CALL EVERY REPUBLICAN MEMBER of the HEALTH COMMITTEE. Tell them to vote against removing the philosophical exemption for vaccines. Then, ask them: "Is it customary practice for you to vote an *idea* out of committee? because there is no *bill text* on the General Assembly's website!!!"  or "Is this typically how you do business?"

They are working surreptitiously and we need to show them that accountability in the light of day is the best antiseptic.

The list of the members of the Health Committee is here. Please call and email them today.

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Lawmakers should take parental rights and public health into account when crafting laws that deal with immunizations. All states allow for some form of medical exemption, and many states allow for some form of religious or philosophical exemptions. 
HSLDA sent out a timely article today: Should Vaccinations be Mandatory?

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