Over 1,000 Californians Show Up to Testify; Vermont Politicians Cut Parents Out of the Democractic Process; Texas Pushes Back on Teacher Vaccine Mandates

On Apr. 22, more than 1,000 Californians, many accompanied by their infants and children, lined up outside and packed four floors of the state Capitol building in Sacramento. Patiently, they waited to participate in the democratic process and testify against SB277 in an historic demonstration of citizen rejection of forced vaccination laws. The bill is authored by pediatrician-turned-politician Richard Pan, MD (D-Sacramento) and attorney Ben Allen (D-Santa Monica), who are lobbying to remove personal belief vaccine exemptions so children cannot attend school unless their parents show proof they have received multiple doses of federally recommended vaccines.

Californians line up before an Apr. 22, 2015 Senate Education Committee hearing to oppose SB277, a forced vaccination bill to remove non-medical vaccine exemptions. for the condensed version.

Overwhelming Citizen Opposition to SB277 Ignored by CA Senators

A week earlier, bill opponents outnumbered bill supporters by 10 to 1 in a three hour Senate Health Committee hearing. Almost twice the number of parents, grandparents, business owners, health care workers, teachers and other concerned citizens showed up to testify against the bill in a three hour Apr. 15 Education Committee hearing that saw the Committee chair call for deferral of a vote until Apr. 22, when it was passed out of Committee with a 7 to 2 vote. Then, in another three hour public hearing in the Judiciary Committee on Apr. 28, hundreds of Californians testified again in opposition to the bill and very few testified in support.

The bill passed on a 5 to 1 vote and was referred to the Senate Appropriations committee.

Lobbying for SB277 are wealthy and powerful medical trade and public health associations, many of which receive pharmaceutical and federal funding. It is being opposed by non-profit organizations defending informed consent and health freedom, including NVIC, California Coalition for Health Choice, California Chiropractors Association and many others. See SB277 Analysis.

View Apr. 15 Senate Education Committee hearing. (Begins at 00:01:28 and ends at 03:39:52)

View Apr. 8 Senate Health Committee hearing. (Begins at 00:15:40 and ends at 03:40:00)

Vermont Senate Blocks Parents From Testifying on H98

On Apr. 22, 2015 while many parents were on spring break with their children, the Vermont Senate Health and Welfare Committee held a hearing that was not recorded for public viewing and only allowed doctors to testify about repeal of the philosophical exemption to vaccination. The sneak attack on Vermont families supporting informed consent rights was engineered by Senator Kevin Mullin (R-Rutland) and colleagues, who tacked an amendment onto an unrelated bill (H98) sponsored by Senator George Till, M.D. (D-Chittenden).

Vermont parents without medical or academic credentials were barred from participating in the democratic process and testifying in opposition to the bill. The Senate approved the amendment to repeal philosophical vaccine exemption 18 to 11 and quickly passed the bill on a voice vote.

Jennifer Stella, president of the Vermont Coalition for Vaccine Choice, which spearheaded a successful citizen-led effort in 2012 to oppose the first attempt by Senator Mullin and Till to eliminate the exemption, told the Associated Press, “This decision basically says that you're not allowed to have any other health philosophy except for the religion of pharmaceuticals. People need to have the right to choose, particularly for their kids.”

After the bill was rammed through the Senate, NVIC State Advocacy Director Dawn Richardson commented that it was done using “undemocratic gangster like tactics to completely block public participation with no hearings taking parent testimony on a bill that now forces vaccination as a condition to a child being educated in Vermont.”

Sign up for the NVIC Advocacy Portal. If you are a Vermont citizen, you can use the online Portal to immediately contact your representatives and Governor to let them know what you think about HB98.

View Apr. 22 testimony by doctors opposing removal of the VT philosophical exemption.

Texas Bill to Mandate Vaccines For Teachers

NVIC State Advocacy Director Dawn Richardson, who also founded Parents Requesting Open Vaccine Education (PROVE), testified against SB1114 on Apr. 23, 2015 in a Texas Senate Education Committee hearing and answered questions posed by legislators. The bill’s sponsor, attorney Sylvia Garcia (D-District 6) wants to mandate vaccines for all teachers and public school employees. The committee did not vote on the bill and it is pending.

View Apr. 23 Texas Senate Education Committee hearing. (Begins at 39:00 and ends at 1:28). Dawn’s testimony begins at 48:00 followed by Q&A and statements by Senator Donna Campbell, M.D. (R-District 25) opposing the bill.

Dawn is urging everyone in Texas to sign up for the NVIC Advocacy Portal to keep up to date with the content and status of 18 vaccine-related bills, four of which are actively in play right now (SB1114; HB2171; HB2474; HB2006).She said, “Unfortunately there is misinformation being put out by medical and special interest groups that support forced vaccination. It is crucial that your legislators understand what the bills do and what they don’t do. Claims are being made that simply aren’t true. It is very important that we clear up some of these false impressions being spread by those who want everyone vaccinated no matter what.”

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15 Responses to "Over 1,000 Californians Show Up to Testify; Vermont Politicians Cut Parents Out of the Democractic Process; Texas Pushes Back on Teacher Vaccine Mandates"

Ron

Posted: 4/29/2015 1:38:52 PM

Great to hear.. Thousands show up across the nation and protest against these measures to only have our representatives go behind closed doors and negotiate the matter through. What was the reason for telling everyone to go out and call your local rep for again?

Ron Skorupa

Posted: 4/29/2015 1:56:37 PM

Unfortunately, we live in an oligarchy and not a democracy. We are no longer the land of the free, but the land of the bought. The main argument for mandatory vaccines is a theory called herd immunity which has been proven wrong numerous times (read "Dissolving Illusions").

Badtz

Posted: 4/29/2015 2:09:46 PM

I am a mom to a son who has a PBE. We as a family do not see the California politicians budging from their need to always pass this bill from one committee to the next. We decided to opt out of vaccinations by considering moving out of the state . I cannot afford to homeschool- I have chromic health conditions probably due to vaccines I received that were mandated by the state , repeated antibiotic use , and metal fillings , and a lifelong diet of processed food , etc . I learned and I want to ensure the well - being of my son and if that have to mean going to a different state whose politicians seem to listen more to their constituents- so be it . This is an article about how Oregon senators made the decision to kill the bill mandating vaccinations for school -aged kids - it says they actually listened to the parents . I don't know if the article about Oregon is accurate , but I know after listening to the Senate hearings on California's SB 277 and writing to these CA senators , maybe it's time to move and keep moving to where my son and family cannot be forced to be vaccinated . See article and please see what I am referring to about what's going on in Oregon : http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/15-16/bill/sen/sb_0251-0300/sb_277_cfa_20150427_153640_sen_comm.html

Donna Marquart

Posted: 4/29/2015 2:12:11 PM

I also wonder what the point of contacting the elected representatives is when they meet behind closed doors and make the decisions or when they have those doctors who believe that vaccines are good the only ones in the room. Just like the FDA allowing for genetically engineered stuff to be "approved" without adequate testing and now we have all kinds of genetically modified stuff - including bacteria that are not safe. They have never, ever, ever been proven safe. Period. And how about the amount of aluminum in vaccines- they have never tested for the safety of that. (But I would imagine some "enterprising" individual might come up with another solution to replace the aluminum? With what? It all gets pretty frustrating.

Donna Marquart

Posted: 4/29/2015 2:16:39 PM

I'm reading Dissolving Illusions and have listened to several online lectures by the co-author Dr. Suzanne Humphries. I've also just finished reading Altered Genes, Twisted Truth by Steven Druker. You don't have to be a rocket scientist - or microbiologist or whatever to understand either of these authors and what they have written about. Dr. Mercola has some interesting interviews as well

Alisa Jerz

Posted: 4/29/2015 3:02:06 PM

I am not a Californian but I am deeply concerned and I have watched the hearings in California on You Tube. I think one of the keys to winning this will be to convince the legislators that people who are at risk of vaccine injury are not adequately protected by medical exemptions. I believe I heard concerns voiced by senators in each of the three hearings. If we could get our doctors to meet with and write letters to the legislators explaining the problems with their assumptions that medical exemptions alone will indeed protect those who could be harmed, such as those who are testifying before them, I think that would convince them. I believe they did show concern for the high risk children but they largely misunderstand the difficulties in trying to obtain a medical exemption.

Kathleen Egbert

Posted: 4/29/2015 4:26:27 PM

One of the biggest problems with medical exemptions being the only recourse to forced vaccination is that medical doctors who issue very many exemptions will become targeted by the state medical boards for license revocation. This is the favorite tactic for putting doctors who treat Lyme and associated diseases out of business, and it is quite successful. Another problems is there is no foolproof way of determining who will or will not have an averse reaction, or the nature and severity of that reaction.

Marie

Posted: 4/29/2015 6:18:46 PM

I watched the hearing online yesterday, April 28, in California before the Senate Judiciary Committee, on SB 277 (which will remove the personal exemption from vaccination requirements). I witnessed for myself that most of the committee members disregarded the hundreds of California citizens who had shown up to testify in opposition to SB 277, many with small children. It was proven to me yesterday that our legislators do not represent the people, but instead they are apparently representing the interests of "big pharma," the large medical associations such as the American Academy of Pediatricians, and various other interests. People were allowed to line up & state their name & where they were from & indicate whether they supported or opposed the bill. They were not allowed to give any other testimony; however, about 25 persons said they had a vaccine-injured child, & a few had two or three vaccine-injured children. One pediatrician said he had "lost his niece." I counted 39 in support of SB 277 (although some represented organizations) and several hundred citizens in opposition (the line seemed to go on and on and on). In addition a few of the citizens opposing SB 277 were there to represent large groups. One grandmother was crying. In spite of the tremendous number of citizens who were opposed, the bill was voted "out of committee" with a 5 to 1 vote (meaning it passed the committee & would go on to the Appropriations Committee). The only committee member who voted no was Joel Anderson. Therefore, to me, it is clear that the legislators do not represent the will of the people. These bills came up in various states across the country right after the measles "outbreak" at Disneyland--which indicates that this legislation may have been pre-planned. At the Judiciary Com. hearing, Senator Hannah Beth Jackson, the chairperson, asked Senator Pan (author of the bill) what was the meaning of "vaccine-injured," because, she said, she didn't know what those words meant. (She acted as though she had never heard of a vaccine-injured person.) Of course, Senator Pan was not clear in his answer, and he said that it is "very rare" for someone to have an adverse reaction to a vaccine, and therefore vaccines are "safe & efficacious."

Dr steve

Posted: 4/30/2015 5:41:26 PM

it is clear that everybody acts in their own best interest. This was demonstrated clearly by this committee of phony legislators. Their own best interest is not in getting reelected but but rather in reaping the rewards of working for a pharmaceutical company after their term is over. These parents in California will not stand to have their children damaged. Beware of the fallout. The next Mahatma Gandhi or Martin Luther King is in the making. We as a nation will overcome this corruption.

Beverly Young

Posted: 4/30/2015 11:44:37 PM

Dr. Steve, You are so right. They are going up against Mother Grizzlys and they very foolishly think we are passive and just go along with the flow. This is a David and Goliath fight and remember David WON!

j j cromwell

Posted: 5/2/2015 2:03:01 PM

All is not lost in California, and I speak as someone who is an "insider" in Sacramento. The Senate leadership had to agree to some amendments, and had to do some fancy footwork (moving Senators from one committee to another) in order to get SB 277 through its first 3 committees. Things are going to get tougher for SB 277 as the bill moves to the Appropriations Committee and on to Senate floor. Even if SB 277 gets through a Senate floor vote, it will have a harder time in the Assembly. Since members of the Assembly are up for election every 2 years, they will be more likely to listen to the grass roots activists who are working against SB 277. Those activists should concentrate their efforts on Democrats who had small margins of victory in the 2014 elections. SB 277 can still be defeated, or watered down to an extent that it will pose much less of a threat. So take heart, stay active, and pass on the word that there is still a real chance of victory!

Kristin

Posted: 5/5/2015 4:22:46 PM

Does anyone know the schedule for the upcoming hearings regarding SB277? When does it go to Appropriations Committee and the Senate floor? I sure hope jj cromwell above is correct!! I love what above subscribers said about a David and Goliath fight. Dont mess with our kids lives. You will awaken the dragon and it will not be pretty. the powers that be should have known to leave well enough alone! i guess it wasn't good enough to have vaccine rates as high as 97.5% in CA. Its disgusting! there is no level too low for them stoop! NVICAdvocacy.org posts alerts and updates members as information becomes available. Please register for this important portal affording you direct e-mail access to YOUR elected representatives, sample language and phone numbers. Your health. your family. Your choice.

Terry

Posted: 5/6/2015 6:33:05 PM

It is imperative exemptions continue. I was a firm believer in vaccines for all until my 2 children that I insisted be vaccinated, even when doctor suggested we hold all vaccines for a while due to severity of reactions of older sibling. Then I had a life threatening reaction to DT shot. I cannot believe what I believed to be the answer is only right for a set of the population, fortunately it seems most tolerate vaccines but there are significant numbers that do not! We must learn why not and until we know why not we must pay close attention to family history of adverse reactions before we ruin lives hoped to save by vaccines! I am sure this puzzle can be solved in near future as to who should not receive vaccines on demanded schedules & who should! Thank you! Until then please do not force vaccine for those with history adverse reactions or those w/ close relatives w/ severe reactions Thank you, terry Ann

mango

Posted: 5/18/2015 7:23:47 PM

stay away from medical men unless you have a broken bone

xphild

Posted: 5/24/2015 3:16:50 PM

By now it should be quite evident to all that COPORATE AMERICA wholly owns all politicians to some degree. It is hard to find a truly honest one any where as the election process has been polluted by corporate America in their eternal drive to empty all of our wallets. Those they don't own they buy off or they disappear from the process. Right now there are very few if any good politicians and those that do ally with WE THE PEOPLE are few in number and they don't last long. $$ talks and CORPORATE AMERICA has most of it. When WE THE PEOPLE don't agree with their point of view, which in most cases is not good for "WE THE PEOPLE", they try to change the rules to their favor. A primes example of this going on right now with MONSANTO who probably have the most members of congress in their pockets. Until we have a more public election process without all the fanfare, campaigning and other BS we will continue to be screwed over by the CORPORATE THIEVES that rule in DC and all the state capitols across the nation.