The Abstinence Clearinghouse Blog

Last year Capitol Resource Family Impact led the fight to stop AB 16, legislation that would have mandated the controversial HPV vaccine for girls as young as 11. The bill also stripped the legislature of its authority to individually approve mandatory vaccines for children, giving that power to the State Department of Public Health and a small panel of health “experts” in Washington, DC.

Due to public outcry, AB 16 was quietly amended to instead mandate HPV vaccine coverage by health insurance providers. This was a victory for parental rights and the ability of parents to direct healthcare decisions for their children.

Now, some in the legislature are trying to authorize the HPV vaccine and strip the legislature of its authority over public health requirements. AB 354 (Arambula) will grant the State Department of Health sole authority to mandate immunizations recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices of the United States Department of Health and Human Services and the American Academy of Family Physicians. All three organizations recommend the HPV vaccine for girls as young as 11 years of age.

Under the current process, citizens can call their lawmakers and urge them to not mandate immunizations for diseases like HPV, which is acquired through intimate contact. Once the State Department of Public Health has sole authority to mandate any and all immunizations, the people will have no say in the process, nor will they be able to hold accountable the decision makers in the department.

“Legislators were very sneaky in the way they crafted the language of AB 354, trying to hide what they are doing from fellow lawmakers and the public,” explained Karen England, Executive Director of Capitol Resource Family Impact. “It is shameful that legislators will use such deception in order to mandate vaccines approved using questionable science.”

AB 354 will be heard in Senate Health Committee tomorrow, June 17th, at 1:30pm. Please call the members of the committee and tell them to vote NO on AB 354. We don’t want unelected bureaucrats telling us what vaccines we must give our children, especially when those vaccines are for sexual lifestyle choices. Also, the legislature-accountable to the people-should maintain the power to determine when public health merits mandatory immunizations for easily communicable diseases.

Senate Health Committee

Elaine Alquist (Chair)
Phone: 916 651 4013
Fax: 916 324 0283

Sam Aanestad
Phone: 916 651 4004
Fax: 916 445 7750

Gilbert Cedillo
Phone: 916 651 4022
Fax: 916 327 8817

Dave Cox
Phone: 916 651 4001
Fax: 916 324 2680

Mark DeSaulnier
Phone: 916 651 4007
Fax: 916 445-2527

Mark Leno
Phone: 916 651 4003
Fax: 916 445-4722

Abel Maldonado
Phone: 916 651 4015
Fax: 916 445 8081

Gloria Negrete McLeod
Phone: 916 651 4032
Fax: 916 445 0128

Fran Pavley
Phone: 916 651 4023
Fax: 916 324-4823

Tony Strickland (Vice Chair)
Phone: 916 651 4019
Fax: 916 324-7544

Lois Wolk
Phone: 916 651 4005
Fax: 916 323-2304
About Vaccines
Pediatric Vaccine Ingredients and Possible Side Effects
HPV/Gardasil
Childcare and School Immunization RequirementsExemptions Allowed (2007-2008)

Source:  Capital Resource