Parents Win-For Now- As Forced Injections Bill is Stalled!

2007-03-14

Richard Moore

Original source URL:
http://www.traditionalvalues.org/modules.php?sid=3033

Parents Win-For Now- As Forced Injections Bill is Stalled!

March 13, 2007 - Sacramento, California‹³The decision to postpone a vote on AB 
16 is a strong sign that the issue of parental notification and consent won the 
day with both Democrats and Republicans,² said Benjamin Lopez, Legislative 
Analyst and Lobbyist for Traditional Values Coalition. ³In its present form this
bill to mandate forced injections on 6th grade girls does not adequately inform 
parents about the drug to be used nor does it adequately inform them of the 
right to exempt their daughter from the injections.²

On Tuesday, March 13, 2007, the California State Assembly Health Committee held 
a hearing on Assembly Bill 16 authored by Assemblyman Ed Hernandez (D) of West 
Covina. AB 16 would require that all 6th grade girls in California be injected 
with an HPV vaccine. Those who aren¹t will not be allowed to proceed to the 7th 
grade. The HPV vaccine is designed to provide protection against various strains
of a sexually-transmitted disease known as human papillomavirus (HPV) which can 
cause cervical cancer in women. Additionally, AB 16 would not require that 
parents be given information about the drug and its affects like a previous 
version had required. Parents will not be explicitly told, but they must also 
submit written notification to ³opt out² of the required mandate.

A vote by the committee was scheduled, however, after reservations were raised 
about a lack of adequate funding for such a mandate and the lack of having a 
specific process by which parents are to exempt their child from the forced 
injections by committee members, Assemblyman Hernandez surprisingly announced he
would ³hold over² his bill. He said he would amend it to address some of the 
concerns expressed by Democrats, Republicans and other pro-family groups that 
testified against the bill, which included TVC¹s Benjamin Lopez.

³It became clear to committee members that the bill is dangerous medicine to the
point that even Democrat members echoed Republican concerns that the bill is 
costly and that parents would not be properly informed nor that they would even 
know about opting out of the mandate,² Lopez said.

Lopez gave praise to Assemblywoman Audra Strickland (R‹Moorpark) for asking ³the
tough questions that needed to raised.²  Lopez further said of Strickland, 
³Assemblywoman Strickland¹s questioning of the bill and pointing out its gross 
flaws in properly notifying parents created the avalanche that unraveled the 
bill. Parents won a victory today thanks to Audra Strickland. She did not settle
for the untruths supporters of the bill were claiming about parental authority.²

Other pro-family leaders gave direct and pointed answers that helped expose the 
bill for its anti-family, anti-parent provisions. But Strickland specifically 
called upon Lopez to address the issue of how parents were to be informed about 
the drug and how to opt out of the injections. Lopez simply exposed the lies 
being said at the hearing that parents would be properly informed.

³Contrary to what the bill¹s author claimed, there is no specific policy in it 
guaranteeing how parents would be informed before the shots would be given to 
young girls,² Lopez said. ³Furthermore, the author removed a provision in the 
bill that would have required doctors to give parents information about the pros
and cons to the drug. This bill is not parent-friendly at all.²

AB 16 will likely be amended and will be rescheduled for a second hearing by the
Assembly Health Committee sometime in April.

³Today¹s actions are a victory for parents and young girls. But we must not give
up or let our guard down. We must continue to be vigilant in ensuring that AB 16
does protect young girls and restores parental authority,² Lopez concluded.
-- 

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