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Help Us Pass Legislation to Add a
Parental Rights Exemption to Vaccination
UPDATE 4/28/01 :
Dear PROVE Texas Members,
PLEASE DO WHATEVER YOU CAN to be at the capitol this Thursday on 5/3 early in the morning to
attend and testify at a Senate Health and Human Serivces Committee hearing. I will be sending
out more specific details by Sunday night and even more on Monday as we firm everything up, but I
wanted to give everyone as much notice as possible.
Big things are happening in the legislature threatening our rights as parents regarding vaccines and
our ability to keep our kids records private and we need ENTIRE FAMILIES including CHILDREN with
every person prepared to present a statement to the Senate Health Committee this Thursday. We
especially need children here who have been hurt by vaccines and who are able to testify. It
could be a long day, so try to make arrangements for family or friends to come with you to help with
children because we will need as many parents as possible to stay in the hearing room for the
duration of the hearing.
We drastically scaled back our testimony in the House out of respect for a request by the committee
chair and we got burned and buried big time because the doctors opposing us did not comply.
In a nutshell, there are a handful of legislators who have initiated underhanded and questionable
efforts to deny the right of parents to control what vaccines are given to their children while
promoting making the vaccine tracking system intrusive to parents and completely abusive of medical
privacy and informed consent rights.
These legislators have gutted the compromised stakeholder bills that we supported and will be
attempting to effectively remove the conscientious exemption part of these bills. An expanded
registry especially without an effective easy to use exemption is a danger to our children.
It is very disappointing to say that after all this work with all the stakeholders and supporters,
HB 1702 and SB 1237 are being changed into things that we NEVER agreed to and therefor we cannot
support them.
Our senate sponsor, Senator Mike Moncrief, has gone back on his word to support the stakeholder
version of the bill and is now going to be offering a committee substitute to remove the exemption
in SB 1237 and just leave the registry changes. I confirmed these changes with his staff twice
after hearing it from another legislator. We need to vigorously oppose the bill - especially the
changes to the vaccine tracking system.
Additionally, after being left pending in the House for 2 weeks, HB 1702 was passed 5:3 after
midnight on Wednesday with an amendment by Representative Garnet Coleman that was never even
presented to the bill author Representative Rick Green which would make the exemption go away if
exemption rates went above 1 percent. Guess what - Texas is already at a 2 percent
exemption rate under the terms of the amendment so this amendment is an underhanded attempt to makes
sure that our exemption would never even see the light of day but all our kids' private confidential
immunization records would still get dumped to the Health Department by our doctors and insurance
companies without our consent!
Please also be ready to follow our upcoming alert to fax and call Senate committee members with our
opposition on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday with faxes and phone calls. More coming on this
tomorrow and Monday.
Please start looking at arrangements to be here in Austin on Thursday ready to testify and support
and protect our parental and medical privacy rights by opposing this bill.
If you have a chance and would like to educate yourself about the dangers of vaccine tracking
systems and the controversial history of the one in Texas and how we were successful at making it
one of the most protective of parental rights in the country, please link to our site at these
locations:
http://www.vaccineinfo.net/txregistry/outline.htm
and http://www.vaccineinfo.net/nationalregistry/nationalindex.htm
I'll leave you with these parting thoughts - Dr. Sharilyn Stanley, Associate Commissioner of Disease
Control and Prevention from the Texas Department of Health, testified at the House hearing that 98%
of the children in Texas have parents who WANT them to be tracked by TDH and their names are already
in the registry and all they are waiting for is the data. All the surveys we've seen show that
the vast majority of people OPPOSE their medical records being released to government agencies
without informed consent. So who is telling the truth and do you know who is tracking your
kids?
Let's get ready to stop SB 1237!
UPDATE 4/29/01:
Why PROVE will oppose Vaccine Bill SB 1237 - Will you help?
Dear PROVE Texas members,
Before we get into the next few days of working together to voice our opposition to Senate Bill
1237, I wanted to take a moment to give you the history on how we got here.
I am sending this out first and separate from the action alert that contains the steps you can take
to help (coming later tonight) because we'll be able to generate a lot more opposition to an
expanded and more intrusive vaccine tracking system if we keep the general alert that is forwarded
to folks who are not members of PROVE about medical privacy rights in general. We need our dedicated
members to be educated about the detailed politics behind this issue so you can proceed forward in
an informed manner.
Last fall, at the same time that we were getting things ready to build our support for the
conscientious exemption to vaccination bill, I was finishing the first phase of participation on a
Health and Human Services Task Force that the Governor's office was also participating in.
I was approached and asked if I would be willing to participate in some meetings with the different
immunization stakeholders to look for ways to come together.
To make a long story short, we worked with Representative Rick Green and several organizations for 3
long months to hash out a compromised bill with changes to the exemption and registry that neither
side liked what the other side was getting, but we felt that we had enough input in the process and
language thanks to Representative Green and Governor Perry's staff that we could swallow the lumps
for the gain on our side. For us that gain was supposed to be a simple to use and obtain
conscientious exemption.
We still had grave concerns with the registry because the change proposed would allow doctors and
insurance companies to release private medical records without the currently required opt-in
informed written consent.
We never were comfortable with this based on TDH's history of lies about the registry and attempts
to get around the current required consent law that we worked so hard on to protect our privacy 4
years ago. Also, in light of how many doctors who now deny children medical care and insurance
companies that are beginning to deny children insurance coverage who don't comply fully with the
"one-size-fits-all" ever increasing vaccine schedule, an expanded registry would only make
this much worse.
During the majority of the negotiation process, we firmly opposed any form of an opt out registry.
However, we had given our word that if certain conditions were met, we would support a very specific
compromised position bill because parents were having such a hard time trying to protect their
children from a vaccine that was either dangerous or unnecessary for their child. To our
reluctance, this ended up being an opt-out provision. Even in the house hearing, one representative
who opposed the bill because of the exemption also astutely brought up that TDH's problems with the
registry had nothing to do with consent - doctors weren't reporting! He said the current
consent system was fine because doctors could access TDH's database now to determine if TDH had
consent before they released records. He made our argument against the registry changes for us.
In our note yesterday, I explained how our Senate Sponsor Senator Mike Moncrief has gone back on his
word to support the stakeholder version of the bill because he is apparently more concerned about
the impact on his political career that the doctors who reside in his district who behaved so badly
in the house hearing would have than keeping his word to parents, other legislators and vaccine
damaged children in his district. His office confirmed for me late Friday afternoon that they
fully intend to strip the exemption out of the bill and just try to pass a registry only bill
through the committee substitute process. In other words, we would have all the risks of the
registry, and none of the benefits of an expanded exemption. Since he is the chairman of the
Senate Health Committee and we need an exemption passed in both the house and the senate, he has
effectively killed our chances of getting any exemption this session.
I also explained how the house version of the bill was gutted by an amendment that removes the
exemption under criteria for exemption rates that already exist thus making it no better than the
committee substitute bill intended to be presented by Senator Moncrief.
This is NOT what we agreed to in stakeholder negotiations. Our side has been cut out of the
process and used. So in a way, we owe Senator Moncrief a word of thanks so we can be free to
obey our consciences and rally opposition in the Senate to a big brother style vaccine tracking
system.
We have been so successful in stopping registry expansion efforts in the past, that some legislative
offices and organizations who oppose expanded government tracking systems have told us that they
were very disappointed that we ever compromised on this point to begin with and haven't been vocal
about the problems with this bill. I've had to explain that we gave our word to support some very
specific language that came out of negotiations, and unless that changed, we gave our word to
support the bill. Because we had been keeping these dangers quiet to honor our promises, we are
behind the 8-ball and need to make up lost ground in the senate.
Nobody wanted this exemption for the parents of this state more than Rebecca and I (except maybe our
husbands :) ) - I know most of you wanted it just as much, but nobody wanted it more. We
have worked long hours with no pay sacrificing time away from our families because we believed this
would help not only our children, but children around the state. It is unfortunate that we had
to put so much work into this, but not having the exemption and not having the registry is much
better than a TDH operated and controlled opt-out registry and database of
"non-consenters".
We truly feel that we have other excellent legal options in front of us to broaden the exemption
because the current religious exemption is unconstitutional so all is not lost.
After evaluating the current climate with public support for medical privacy, I really think we have
a good chance to stop this expansion in the senate - 30 out of 31 senators (including Senator
Moncrief himself) voted IN FAVOR of Senator Nelson's medical privacy bill SB 11 which requires
OPT-IN informed consent before medical records can be released. Legislators are going to be
hard pressed to explain why they deserve medical privacy rights but our children don't!
Almost 3 years ago, we wrote a recommendation to the legislature that the immunization tracking
system get repealed. I am forwarding the summary text of the table of contents of the report
below. Please link to the full report and read it at http://www.vaccineinfo.net/txregistry/sunset.htm.
I hope this gives you enough background and motivation to be on board with us to help us the next
several days. Please do what your heart tells you what is right. Ask yourself if you are
you okay with doctors and insurance companies sending your child's records to the Texas Department
of Health without your consent and the only way you can remove them is a written statement to the
Health Department which would then put your child in a database of "non-consenters"?
Sincerely, Dawn
From http://www.vaccineinfo.net/txregistry/sunset.htm
Written Public Testimony for the Sunset Review of The Texas Department of Health
July 1, 1998
Opening Letter to Sunset Advisory Commission
Dawn Richardson
Alison Mullins
Rebecca Rex
We respectfully ask the Commission to consider our written testimony in your review of the Texas
Department of Health under the Sunset Process. For ease of reference, this document has been divided
into three main sections. The first section, entitled "Executive Summary", briefly
introduces our concerns by summarizing each area of concern as it relates to the Texas Department of
Health. The second section comprises our "Conclusions and Recommendations". The third
section, entitled "Supporting Documentation", details the reasons and factual support
behind our concerns. We hope that the following report not only alerts the Sunset Advisory
Commission to these concerns but convinces you to take necessary corrective actions.
Sincerely,
Dawn Richardson
Alison Mullins
Rebecca Rex
Executive Summary
On June 18, 1997, Governor George Bush signed HB 3054 into law, which authorized the Texas
Department of Health (TDH) to establish a statewide immunization tracking computer registry
(ImmTrac). This document will show that TDH's Immunization Division has consistently tried to
undermine privacy protections written into this law and misled the legislature as well as the public
it serves regarding ImmTrac uses and implementation.
To correct these pervasive abuses, we submit that the Commission needs to go beyond the initial
recommendation in your report encouraging stakeholder outreach activities in TDH's rulemaking
process; it should propose Sunset Legislation limiting TDH's autonomous rule making authority to
require involvement with the individuals or groups their rules regulate. While TDH touts ImmTrac's
ostensible benefits to Texas citizens, the federal government and drug companies dictate how ImmTrac
is operated in the service of their respective policies and business interests, and this poses a
serious threat to Texans' cherished privacy and freedom of choice in health care. For these
reasons, we additionally urge the Commission to propose Sunset Legislation to shut down the ImmTrac
program and prohibit the connection of Texas medical databases with other state or federal
databases.
1. TDH USES RULE WRITING AUTHORITY TO CIRCUMVENT LEGISLATION
TDH attempted to use the rule writing process to circumvent the privacy and consent provisions
guaranteed by the Texas Legislature in the passage of amended HB 3054.
2. TDH DEVISES WAYS TO CIRCUMVENT INFORMED PARENTAL CONSENT REQUIREMENTS
TDH knew the parental consent restrictions of HB 3054, yet ignored them when they wrote the proposed
rules. TDH connived with insurance companies to bury ImmTrac consent within enrollment forms. They
continue to state their desire to eliminate informed consent.
3. TDH AVOIDS PRIVATE CITIZEN INVOLVEMENT AND EMBRACES INDUSTRY INVOLVEMENT
TDH met with insurance companies and HMOs while they were writing registry rules, but did not
include parents despite verbal agreements. TDH advertised the rule posting only to the minimum
required by law despite the controversy surrounding the issue.
4. TDH MISLEADS LEGISLATORS TO GET BILL PASSED
During 1997 legislative committee hearings and the immunization tracking system's rule review
process, the Immunization Division of TDH downplayed the amount of personal information they
intended to collect and in fact had already collected. However, TDH greatly expanded the information
to be collected by ImmTrac beyond what the statute contemplated. TDH also created a loophole in its
rules allowing itself to gather whatever additional information it will want in the future.
5. TDH MAINTAINS IMMUNIZATION DATABASE BEFORE DIRECT LEGISLATIVE AUTHORITY
TDH misinformed the legislature and the public in their request to establish an immunization
tracking system. They had already, often without parental consent, entered over 3 million children's
records since 1995.
6. TDH COLLABORATES WITH OTHER DEPARTMENTS TO COLLECT INFORMATION WITHOUT CONSENT
By linking private birth record information with ImmTrac, TDH populated the state immunization
registry with total disregard for the parental consent provisions required by Texas law. The Federal
Government encourages this type of action. The Social Security Administration used its rule making
process to modify the Privacy Act of 1974 to allow the SSA to provide a child's SSN to all states
without parental consent for the purpose of establishing immunization registry records for all
newborns.
7. TDH USES PUBLIC HEALTH TO CASH IN ON FEDERAL REWARD INCENTIVES
TDH will collect millions of federal dollars of discretionary income as a reward for entering Texas
children's immunization histories into ImmTrac. This financial incentive may explain TDH's
determination to promote ImmTrac and its resistance to parental consent despite the objections of
Texas citizens and the provisions of Texas law.
8. TDH KEEPS MANY OF THE RECORDS THEY OBTAINED WITHOUT INFORMED CONSENT
TDH has refused to remove the majority of names from ImmTrac even though parental consent can't be
verified for those entries. Parental consent forms do not offer a way to either opt out of or
withdraw from ImmTrac, nor do they clearly explain that personal data can be transferred to other
state, federal, and non-governmental registry users. TDH has methods for keeping tabs on those who
do manage to opt out of the system.
9. TDH NOT TAKING REQUIRED PRECAUTIONS TO SECURE DATA
TDH wrote proposed rules allowing them to release ImmTrac data to outside entities who are not
authorized or bound by protective state laws. TDH applied for and accepted federal grant money to
explore ways to integrate immunization data with other databases despite legislative restrictions.
TDH will be further exposing Texans to the threats of identity theft and financial fraud.
10. LEGISLATIVE PENALTIES FOR REGISTRY INFORMATION MISUSE NOT ENFORCED
After TDH illegally released ImmTrac data, parents and legislators complained to no avail. Even
though the bill provides criminal penalties for negligently releasing ImmTrac data, the lack of an
adequate enforcement mechanism renders these penalties meaningless.
11. COST OF IMPLEMENTATION
Even though TDH downplays state and local expenses, over $8.5 million dollars of state money has
been spent, and millions of federal taxpayer dollars are being and will continue to be spent on the
ImmTrac system.
12. TDH'S IMMTRAC IS PART OF A NATIONAL REGISTRY PLAN TO INCLUDE EVERYONE
The federal government is implementing its plan for establishing a national surveillance and
enforcement system to ensure that all children and adults comply with every government vaccine
recommendation. TDH's ImmTrac System is the Texas component of this national registry program.
13. CHALLENGES TO THE NEW VACCINES THAT SAVE MONEY - NOT LIVES
Immunization registries allow for uniform enforcement of questionable vaccination policies.
Knowledgeable and responsible parents and physicians question the trend of requiring most of new
vaccines (i.e., chicken pox, diarrhea) because they are justified primarily for convenience and cost
effectiveness. The Hepatitis B shot is routinely administered to newborns regardless of their risk
of catching it.
14. QUESTIONABLE OUTREACH ACTIVITIES
Parents who do not exactly follow the government recommendations for vaccines will be subjected to
continual harassment, and even home visits, until they comply. TDH never mentioned its detailed
plans for home visits and "other means" of coercion when this bill was discussed or when
the rules were posted.
15. TDH AND CDC WANT FEDERAL LAW TO PREEMPT STATE'S CONSENT PROVISIONS
The National immunization Program, the National Vaccine Advisory Committee, and the All Kids Count
Program are moving toward their ultimate goal of a national immunization tracking system network to
include all children despite state protective laws requiring consent. Unless this is stopped, Texas
legislators may see the privacy and consent provisions they supported superceded by federal law.
16. TDH PLANS FOR IMMTRAC DATA TO BE AVAILABLE TO INTERNATIONAL DATABASES
The CDC has been working with other states and countries to develop a standard data file format
which will allow international monitoring of vaccination status, and TDH is following that system
despite citizens' right to keep their medical information private.
17. IMMUNIZATION REGISTRIES ARE NOT COST EFFECTIVE
The reasons given by the National Immunization Program for financing immunization registries don't
justify spending billions of dollars. With immunization registries in place, compliance with newly
developed vaccines can more easily be enforced, increasing revenue for vaccine manufacturers and
health care providers.
18. PRIVATE FOUNDATIONS USE REGISTRIES TO MANIPULATE NATION'S HEALTH CARE OPTIONS
Private foundations, such as the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, whose founding companies will
profit from a national immunization registry, manipulate public policy to serve their
self-interests.
19. VACCINE SAFETY ISSUES
Vaccines carry medical risks, making their tracking and enforcement more controversial.
Conclusion and Recommendations
High quality public health is a goal that we all share, however, a vaccination surveillance,
monitoring and enforcement system orchestrated by the federal government is not an acceptable means
to that end. As this report asserts, pronouncing that a program is in the best interest of the
public does not necessarily make it so.
While we appreciate TDH's commitment to public health programs, we disagree with methods TDH has
employed misleading legislators and citizens. Last year, we felt that consent provisions in the law
would be enough protection for parents who did not want their children to be a part of ImmTrac. We
have changed our position because of TDH's repeated attempts to circumvent these protections, the
invasive enforcement programs planned by the federal government, and the CDC's plot to add many more
vaccine mandates for all citizens. We are at the critical point where a Texan's right to self
determination of medical procedures and privacy of personal and medical information can only be
adequately protected if the legislature takes the necessary corrective actions.
For these reasons, we respectfully request that you propose:
1. Sunset Legislation limiting TDH's autonomous rule making authority to require involvement with
the individuals or groups their rules regulate
2. Sunset Legislation to shut down the ImmTrac program and to prohibit the connection of Texas
medical databases with other state or federal databases
In response to concern over medical privacy, The Texas Republican Party adopted the following
statement as part of their 1998 party platform at their recent Fort Worth, Texas Convention:
"The Party opposes any and all unauthorized access and distribution of an individual's private
medical records by a government agency or any agent working on behalf of a government agency. The
Party also opposes the formation of any state or federal (national) registry into which personal
medical information would be deposited."
We would all be wise to heed the warnings of the experts on the threats to our civil liberties that
these registries pose. Agneta Breitenstein, director of the Health Law Institute in Boston, spoke in
opposition to immunization registries at the April 6, 1998 CDC Initiative on Immunization Registries
meeting in New Orleans. "There are three things that are always true when registries are
created: "One, there will always be more information collected than is needed to complete the
task; two, it will always be kept longer than we are told; and, three, it will always be used for
purposes other than intended."
- Sign up for PROVE Email Newsletters. Stay up
to date on the progress of the bill and action items that you can personally participate in to
make a difference.
- Current Action Alerts: WRITE TO COMMITTEE MEMBERS BY
FAX OR EMAIL BY 4/10
URGENT ACTION NEEDED (4/4/01)
Support Conscientious Exemption To Vaccination Language in HB 1702!
Dear PROVE Texas Members,
Well the day has finally come that we need for each and every one of you to jump into action
immediately to help us pass a parental rights conscientious exemption to mandatory vaccination
laws in Texas. We need a little of your time over the next few days; please act ASAP.
If you are new to this issue and don't fully understand why securing this exemption is so
important, please visit:
http://www.vaccineinfo.net/issues/2001/exemption_alert.htm.
We have been given a very good indication that HB 1702 will be scheduled for a public hearing
this Wednesday on 4/11/01. It is important that you
reserve it to come to Austin if you can, and I will post the details by Friday evening once we get
a confirmation. Not only do we need your support for
HB 1702, we also need a lot of our supporters on hand at the hearing to be available to help
counter the efforts by another legislator who is working behind the scenes to make it even more
difficult for parents to take an exemption than it is currently.
In the meantime, there a few urgent ACTION ITEMS we need you to complete. It will not take
long, and it will be a huge help! See expanded
details below.
Summary:
1) CALL YOUR OWN STATE REPRESENTATIVE IMMEDIATELY
2) WRITE LETTERS TO THE HOUSE PUBLIC HEALTH COMMITTEE MEMBERS ASAP (U.S. Mail by Friday 4/6 or
fax by 4/9)
3) EMAIL A COPY OF YOUR LETTER OF SUPPORT FOR HB 1702 TO THE BILL AUTHOR REPRESENTATIVE RICK
GREEN AND PROVE
4) MAKE SURE YOU ARE ON OUR EMAIL LIST TO STAY UPDATED
Expanded Details:
1) CALL YOUR OWN STATE REPRESENTATIVE IMMEDIATELY
To find out who your state representative is and what their Austin office phone number is, link
to:
http://www.capitol.state.tx.us/fyi/fyi.htm
CALL your Representative's office and introduce yourself, say where you
are calling from, IDENTIFY YOURSELF AS A CONSTITUENT and ask to speak with the legislative aid
who is handling health and immunization bills.
Introduce yourself to the aid identifying yourself as a constituent. Explain in your own words that you are calling specifically to ask your elected
representative to talk to all the health committee members that he/she can to stress to them the
importance that the conscientious exemption to vaccination contained in HB 1702 by
Representative Rick Green means to your family. Tell the aid the bill will most likely be heard
on 4/11. Give some background:
* Current Texas Immunization laws ignore parental rights - a parent cannot delay or
decline a vaccine they think is either harmful or unnecessary for their child
* Children in Texas get as many as 39 doses of 12 different vaccines by school entry [
breakout for your knowledge: 5-DPT, 4-Polio,
3-Hep B, 4- Hib, 2-Hep A, 1-Chicken Pox (varicella), 2-MMR, 4-pnuemococcal]. Over 200 new
vaccines in development and candidates for mandates.
* Some of these vaccines are not safe or necessary for all children (give your own
examples)
* Explain what having this exemption would mean to your family
2) WRITE LETTERS TO THE HOUSE PUBLIC HEALTH COMMITTEE MEMBERS ASAP (U.S. Mail by Friday 4/6
or fax by 4/9)
First preference would be a mailed letter that is uniquely addressed to each legislator and
hand signed and hand addressed, but since time is short, the next best thing is a fax with a
hand signature. An email note is the last written resort if you are not able to mail a letter or
send a fax. I've included office phone numbers for those who are ambitious and want to
help by making some calls as well. The order of preference indicates the order of impact on the
legislator. Please really try to mail or fax
letters. If you can't get through on the
representatives' direct fax line, the House of Representatives general fax is (512) 463-5896.
Rep. Patricia Gray, Chair, Phone: (512) 463-0588, Fax: (512) 478-1887
Rep. Garnet Coleman, V-Chair, Phone: (512) 463-0524, Fax: (512) 463-1260
Rep. Jaime Capelo, Phone: (512) 463-0462, Fax: (512) 463-9545
* Rep. Dianne White Delisi, Phone: (512) 463-0630, Fax: (512) 463-0937
Rep. Bob Glaze, Phone: (512) 463-0580, Fax: (512) 463-9954
Rep. John Longoria, Phone: (512) 463-0618, Fax: (512) 463-0495
Rep. Glen Maxey, Phone: (512) 463-0519, Fax: (512) 463-5896
Rep. Carlos Uresti, Phone: (512) 463-0714, Fax: (512) 463-1448
Rep. Arlene Wohlgemuth, Phone: (512) 463-0538, Fax: (512) 463-6551
* Representative Delisi is a joint author of HB 1702 and a committee member - if you can,
please thank her at the top of your letter to her instead of asking her to support her own bill. You still should send letters to her so she can see the support.
[email protected]; [email protected];
[email protected]; [email protected];
[email protected]; [email protected];
[email protected]; [email protected];
[email protected]
SAMPLE LETTER (hand address outside envelope)
------------------------
[YOUR NAME AND ADDRESS]
[DATE]
The Honorable [REPRESENTATIVE'S NAME]
Box 2910
Austin, TX 78768-2910
Dear Representative [REPRESENTATIVE'S NAME],
Please support HB 1702 authored by Representatives Green, Janek, and Delisi.
[PERSONALIZED BODY -
THE MOST IMPORTANT THING YOU CAN DO IS KEEP THE TOTAL LETTER LENGTH TO ONE PAGE OR LESS TO
MAKE SURE IT IS READ. HERE ARE A FEW IDEAS YOU COULD CHOOSE FROM FOR YOUR POINTS - CUSTOMIZE WHAT IS
MOST IMPORTANT TO YOU:
* WHY YOU WANT A CONSCIENTIOUS EXEMPTION
* FAMILY VACCINE REACTIONS
* VACCINE SAFETY PROBLEMS AND OUTSTANDING QUESTIONS
* DIFFICULTY GETTING MEDICAL EXEMPTION OR BAD BEHAVIOR BY PHYSICIANS
* PROBLEMS WITH CURRENT RELIGIOUS EXEMPTION OR PROBLEM HAVING IT ACCEPTED BY SCHOOLS OR DAY
CARE
* DISCRIMINATION EXPERIENCES
* SPECIFIC WAYS THIS WILL HELP YOU - I.E. PROTECTING CHILD OR SIBLINGS FROM FURTHER
REACTIONS OR ALLOWING YOU TO CUSTOMIZE THE SCHEDULE FOR YOUR CHILD
* PARENTAL RIGHTS ISSUES
BE RESPECTFUL AND POSITIVE IN YOUR CHOICES OF WORDS]
Sincerely,
[YOUR NAME - FOLLOWED BY A HAND SIGNATURE]
3) EMAIL A COPY OF YOUR LETTER OF SUPPORT FOR HB 1702 TO THE BILL AUTHOR, REPRESENTATIVE RICK
GREEN AND EMAIL TO PROVE.
Representative Green would like to submit a huge stack of letters to the committee members as
written testimony at the time of the hearing. You still need to send the letters above because
they won't see these letters most likely until after the vote, but they do become part of the
permanent record and provide a nice visual effect. Use the same letter as above, but address it
to Representative Rick Green and replace the greeting with "Dear Members of the House
Public Health Committee,". Email it to [email protected]
and please blind copy it to PROVE.
Place the words "HB 1702: Written Testimony" in the subject line.
4) MAKE SURE YOU ARE ON OUR EMAIL LIST TO STAY UPDATED
If you are not currently on our email list because you've gotten this alert from a friend,
please subscribe so you can stay updated how you can help as the bill moves on. You can subscribe at http://www.vaccineinfo.net/subscribe.htm.
You will also receive news about vaccine safety and vaccine informed consent issues.
Thank you for everything. We've got a long way to
go, but we are closer now than we ever have been.
If you are planning on coming to Austin and have compelling personal testimony, we may be able
to benefit from having you give oral testimony or at least to have you on hand to give it
depending on what opposition testimony looks like. Oral
testimony will be limited to 3 minutes and our goal will be to make sure that we show respect and
nobody gets called for exceeding the time limit. Please write to me personally
if you are interested or if you have any questions.
Please get busy - mailed letters need to be out no later than Friday's mail! Thank you so much everybody!
Sincerely,
Dawn Richardson
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