Urgent: Call California Assembly to Halt Bill That Endangers Children
A dangerous bill, Senate Bill 866, may come up for a vote at any time in the California Assembly, its final hurdle in the legislature.
SB 866, Vaccine Consent for Minors, would force children as young as 12 to make major medical decisions without a parent’s input, knowledge, or support. It will open the door for peer pressure and coercion, rather than wisdom, caution, and knowledge of one’s family medical history, to drive children’s health.
Introduced in the Senate by Sens. Pan and Wiener, the bill has already passed that chamber, and then passed the Assembly Judiciary Committee on a 6-4 vote last week. If it passes the Assembly on this upcoming vote, it will go to the governor’s desk.
Regardless of where one stands on vaccines, removing parents from major decisions in a child’s life is certain to have negative consequences. The Supreme Court of the United States has already upheld the vital role that parents play in making these decisions for which children, by virtue of simply being children, are not yet ready to make.
But Senators Pan and Wiener are not concerned about that. Their bill is poised to ignore parents’ rights and children’s needs.
Take Action
Take a moment right now to call or email your Assemblyman and urge him or her to vote “No” on SB 866. (Because this bill can come for a vote literally at any moment, there is no time to delay!)
Your message can be as simple as the following (but in your own words):
“Please vote “No” on S.B. 866, Vaccine Consent for Minors. This bill threatens parental rights and endangers children. Parents are a child’s greatest advocate and protection when it comes to making health care decisions, including immunizations. Children should not be forced to make irreversible medical decisions on their own.”
Explanation and Talking Points
S.B. 866 is another attack on parental rights. It treats children as adults, when their parents, not young children, should decide health care decisions, such as vaccine administration.
And it endangers children. A minor child may not know his or her medical history. A minor child may consent to an immunization, and then suffer an adverse reaction, and if the parent does not know that the child was immunized, may miss warning signs and be unable to get the child to the hospital in time. Or, a parent may not know that their child received an immunization at school, and have their family pediatrician administer the same immunization, resulting in potential harm due to multiple and unnecessary doses.
The Parental Rights Foundation recently won a preliminary injunction in federal district court against a similar law in the District of Columbia. We encourage you to read our story about our lawsuit, and to read the federal judge’s memorandum opinion. We believe this victory is more evidence that S.B. 866 should be rejected by the California legislature.
Thank you for standing with us to protect children by empowering parents in California! We encourage you to forward this email to several of your friends. We can win this battle for our children and for parental rights if all of us parents stand together.
Sincerely,
Will Estrada
President, ParentalRights.org