Earlier this year we alerted you to Senate Bill 163, which creates an immunization tracking system and requires schools to publish their vaccination rates.
This invasive bill was advanced during a surprise Sunday hearing this past weekend and passed the House Appropriations Committee with a vote of 7 to 4.
In small districts, SB 163 could create unwarranted pressure on families suspected of reducing the vaccination rate. Moreover, the bill is misleading, given that the district would be reporting children as being “under-vaccinated” even if they are simply lacking one or two vaccines for diseases that are not contagious in school settings (either whether not contagious at all, like tetanus, or only through intimate contact, like HPV).
S.B. 163 also requires parents to complete an online vaccine educational module or to have a vaccine provider sign their child’s religious or personal belief vaccine exemption.
This bill is expected to move very fast now that it has passed Committee! SB 163 could be debated by the full house in a matter of days.
You can help with calls and emails. Every voice can make a difference in stopping S.B. 163 and preserving informed, uncoerced consent.
Please take action today!
TAKE ACTION:
Contact your Colorado State Senator and ask him or her to OPPPOSE S.B. 163. You can find out who represents you at: http://leg.colorado.gov/find-my-legislator
Calls are more effective than emails, and only take a few minutes.
Sample script:
“Hi, my name is ____ and I am a constituent. I am calling to ask Senator ____ to OPPOSE S.B. 163.
I oppose S.B. 163 because of the creation of a vaccine tracking system and the requirement for schools to publish their vaccination rates.
Given that the CDC schedule calls for children to get as many as 69 doses for 16 different illnesses, the statistics can easily mislead parents into being concerned when some children don’t get every single dose for every single illness. Several of the illnesses, such as tetanus and HPV, aren’t contagious (either at all or in a school setting). Others, such as rotavirus, do not pose a health risk to school age children. Yet by reporting numbers of children who are not vaccinated for such illnesses, the published statistics would lead to unnecessary fears by many parents. The public needs accurate information about vaccines, not scare tactics.
I urge Senator _______ to oppose this bill.
Be sure to explain why this issue is important to you. You may wish to use a couple of the talking points below. Don’t copy all of them – just use them as ideas to help structure your own message.
TALKING POINTS for calls and emails:
This content was originally published here.
