Moms Who Vax: Vermont

Sunday, February 12, 2012

Compromising Children's Health and Safety...

Received news this morning regarding the interesting legislation working its way through the Vermont State Legislature over the last week or so that I wanted to pass on. As many of you know, Vermont is currently trying to remove its philosophical or "conscientious" objection opt-out in vaccine law, in order to better protect children. And, as expected, the anti-vax community is fighting tooth and nail to make sure they can continue to refuse to vaccinate their children AND send them to school with no obstacles or challenges. They don't seem to care that this happens when unvaccinated children contract the diseases they could have been vaccinated against, and pass those diseases on to other people.

Today we learned from PKids that “a compromise on S.199 has been introduced by the Senate Health & Welfare committee. The proposal would require a conversation between a parent and their child’s Primary Care Provider which included a discussion of the risks and benefits of refusing a vaccination. After this discussion and after sign off by the provider the exemption would be accepted. The process could be incorporated into routine well-child visits before school entry or during the provisional entry period. The proposed legislative language and a sample of a draft exemption form is attached. The original bill can be found at http://www.leg.state.vt.us/docs/2012/bills/Intro/S-199.pdf."

The committee is voting next Tuesday--Valentine's Day--on the compromise, as well as the original bill. As parents who love our children, and the children of parents who choose not to vaccinate them, we really need to get on the horn, or the keyboard, and get in touch with these Senators and ask them to pass S.199 as written. I'm not willing to compromise on the health of my kids. I doubt any of us are.

If you are from Vermont or know anyone in Vermont--he or she does not even have to be a parent--please ask them to contact their legislators at the e-mail address or phone numbers below. Some talking points include the following:

· This “compromise” does nothing to improve the protection of our vulnerable children in public daycare and school.

· This only formalizes and gives credence to philosophical objection to vaccines making it more ‘official’ that we are slipping backwards on this issue.

· Why would Vermont adopt the plan of a state (Washington) that is one of three states with the poorest of immunization rates? While their recent legislation hasn’t been around long enough to be evaluated thoroughly, viewed reasonably, it is not likely to have a significant impact on immunization rates.

· Children are not political decisions, please do not allow children to be opted out of a lifetime of health and happiness.

Senate Health and Welfare

Sen. Claire Ayer, Chair, 504 Thompson Hill Rd., Weybridge, VT 05753
(802) 545-2142 -cayer@leg.state.vt.us

Sen. Kevin Mullin, Vice Chair, 118 Ox Yoke Dr., Rutland, VT 05701
(802) 775-7631 - kjmbjm@aol.com

Sen. Anthony Pollina, Clerk, 93 Story Rd., North Middlesex, VT 05682
(802) 229-5809 - apollina@leg.state.vt.us; apollina@sover.net

Sen. Sally Fox, 80 Bartlett Bay Rd., South Burlington, VT 05403
(802) 860-6428 - sfox@leg.state.vt.us; senatorsallyfox@gmail.com

Sen. Hinda Miller, 84 Deforest Heights, Burlington, VT 05401
(802) 862-7008 - hmiller@leg.state.vt.us

Thursday, February 2, 2012

Live in Vermont? Want Your Kids Safe? We Need Your Help!

You may have heard that the Vermont legislature is considering two bills that would eliminate the philosophical exemption option from their immunization law. This would make it very difficult for parents to simply opt-out of vaccinating their children and still send those children into day-care and school settings. The Senate Health and Welfare Committee took testimony on January 24th. This bill has been referred to the House Education Committee, but they have not scheduled testimony.

That's great, you say. But what's the point? Here's the point. As much as we'd love to write a letter of support for this bill, it would not do a thing--if it would even be read--as Moms Who Vax is based out of Minnesota. So I am taking to the blogwaves to ask if anyone from Vermont is reading this article and cares about the health and safety, not just of their own children, but also the health of other children (including infant siblings, immuno-compromised kids who can't be vaccinated, etc) to please contact Vermont legislators. An e-mail will suffice.

Because here's the deal--the anti-vax community is very small when compared to the number of people who vaccinate their kids. But they are much better mobilized, because they are fighting for their ability to send their kids into daycare and school settings without being vaccinated, and putting the entire school at risk. A large turnout or letter-writing campaign from the statistically small group of non-vaccinators would suggest to legislators a huge outcry against removing this exemption than actually exists.

The full text of the bills can be found at http://www.leg.state.vt.us/docs/2012/bills/Intro/S-199.pdf and http://www.leg.state.vt.us/docs/2012/bills/Intro/H-527.pdf.

Please contact members of both the Senate Health and Welfare Committee and the House Education Committee and express your support of the elimination of a philosophical exemption from the requirement that all children attending school and child care facilities receive immunizations specified by the department of health.

· Email today and ask the Senators and Representatives to join you in your support for the health of the children of Vermont - Support S.199 & H.527. E-mail addresses are below. And listen, this thing doesn't need to be long. In fact, keep it simple. You're a parent who vaccinates in order to protect your child--and the children of the community--from deadly vaccine-preventable diseases. There should be some obstacle put in place that at least makes it harder for parents who decide not to vaccinate their kids, then throw them into classes with the rest of the community. It's not fair. Parents who vax have rights, too.

Senate Health & Welfare Committee Members (S.199)

Senator Claire Ayer, Chair - cayer@leg.state.vt.us

Senator Kevin Mullin, Vice Chair - kjmbjm@aol.com

Senator Anthony Pollina, Clerk - apollina@leg.state.vt.us, apollina@sover.net

Senator Sally Fox - sfox@leg.state.vt.us, senatorsallyfox@gmail.com

Senator Hinda Miller - hmiller@leg.state.vt.us

House Education Committee (H.527)

Johannah Donovan, Chair - jdonovan@leg.state.vt.us, jdonovan@burlingtontelecom.net

Howard Crawford, Vice Chair - hcrawford@leg.state.vt.us, repcrawford@charter.net

Philip Peltz, Ranking Member - ppeltz@leg.state.vt.us, peter@peterpeltz.com

Sarah Buxton, Clerk - sbuxton@leg.state.vt.us, sbuxton@gmail.com, sbuxton@vermontlaw.edu

Brian Campion - bcampion@leg.state.vt.us, bacampion@hotmail.com