Dear Colorado NVIC Advocacy Team Members,
HB 1288, the bill that restricts vaccine exemptions with state mandated vaccine re-education, has passed the full house and is now in the senate. The bill is scheduled for a hearing in the Senate State, Veterans and Military Affairs Committee on Wednesday, April 9th at 1:30 PM in the Old Supreme Court Chambers, Room 220 at the capitol.
We need for you to be contacting Senators asking them to oppose HB 1288 and we need your presence and testimony at the hearing.
To watch the final vote and discussion in the full house, click on this link and then click on March 24, 2014. HB 1288 starts at the 33:12 time stamp. http://www.coloradochannel.net/sessions/house
Audio of the 6 hour long hearing in the House Health, Insurance and Environment Committee is available by clicking on this link - http://coloradoga.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=20&clip_id=5370
Current version of HB 1288 - http://www.leg.state.co.us/clics/clics2014a/csl.nsf/fsbillcont3/94D61307D2B5926387257C360075EBCB?open&file=1288_ren.pdf
ACTION NEEDED:
1) Contact members of the State, Veterans and Military Affairs Committee and ask them to VOTE NO on HB 1288 in the hearing. Senator Irene Aguilar, MD is a member of this committee and is the prime senate sponsor of HB 1288. See contact information below.
2) Plan on attending the hearing on April 9th. Concerned citizens will have an opportunity to speak to the committee. HB 1288 is second on the agenda. Please let us know if we can count on you to be there by writing to [email protected].
3) Contact your own Colorado State Senator and ask them to VOTE NO on HB 1288. Please try if possible, to schedule a time to meet with your senator in person or on the phone to discuss your concerns about HB 1288. Do not wait to contact your senator until after the hearing on April 9th because the bill will most likely move very quickly to the full senate if it passes out of the committee. Share this short informational video put together by NVIC Executive Director Theresa Wrangham with your Senator’s office to clear up misinformation on HB 1288 - http://www.nvic.org/colorado1288.aspx. Please make sure your senator and their legislative aide watches this video.
4) Check your Colorado State Senator’s web page to see if they have scheduled any public meetings for the next few weeks in their district. Some may be home for holidays. These meetings provide a good opportunity for constituents to share concerns about pending legislation in person.
5) If you have any questions, need references or any additional information, contact Cindy Loveland, Colorado State Director for NVIC - [email protected]
TALKING POINTS:
1) This bill is not fair. Parents who vaccinate their children only receive a 2 page vaccine information statement from their vaccine provided made by the CDC. Parents are not even required to read it before vaccinating. Most parents who vaccinate are not aware of side-effects, contraindications, or the vaccine injury compensation program. This bill is coercive and harassing as it requires FAR MORE of families selectively vaccinating than what occurs with those who blindly fully vaccinate.
2) Parents have the right and the responsibility to make their own personal medical decisions concerning vaccination for their children without being forced to go through additional government mandated reeducation. HB 1288 violates parental rights and medical freedom.
3) There is no public health crisis to justify making it harder for parents to exercise their right to delay or exempt their child from one or more of the vaccines required for school. Vaccination rates in Colorado are in line with national averages according to the national immunization survey.
http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/stats-surv/nis/tables/12/tab03_antigen_state_2012.pdf
4) Vaccines are pharmaceutical products that carry the risk of injury. The federal Vaccine Injury Compensation Program has awarded almost $3 billion to those injured by vaccines. Vaccine manufacturers and those who administer vaccines are not liable when a vaccine injury occurs.
5) Outbreaks of pertussis cannot be blamed on non-vaccinated children according to the CDC. The Colorado Dept. of Health’s own surveillance data for pertussis cases in children from 7 months to 9 years old from 2005 through 2011 shows 71% were appropriately vaccinated.
6) Parents who have made a decision to exempt or delay one or more of the required vaccines required for school for personal reasons are not doing so out of convenience. A survey of Colorado parents between 2008 and 2011 found that parents who declined or delayed vaccines were “8 times more likely to report that they constantly reevaluate their vaccine decisions than parents who accepted all vaccines.”
Colorado Senate State, Veterans and Military Affairs Committee Members
Staff Contact: Julia Jackson -Phone: (303) 866-4788
E-mail: [email protected]
www.colorado.gov/lcs/SenateStateVetsMilitaryCmte
To send an email to all the senators, cut and paste this list into your blind cc: field in your email program.
[email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected];[email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]
Sincerely,
Cindy Loveland, Colorado State Director of NVIC Advocacy
National Vaccine Information Center
http://NVIC.org and http://NVICAdvocacy.org
[email protected]
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