Help stop a terrible vaccine bill in the D.C. Legislature!

The District of Columbia is considering a bill that would allow children to consent to vaccination without parental consent.

B24-0942 would allow minors to consent to all vaccines recommended by the U.S. Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) after “a reasonable attempt to notify” parents/or legal guardians has been made.

This bill is EXTREMILY dangerous as many children may not know their personal and family medical history that could impact their risk of having a serious reaction to a vaccine. Moreover, parents may not know to get the child medical help if a vaccine reaction occurs.

The “Consent for Vaccinations of Minors Amendment Act of 2022” (B24-0942) is a regular version of the same bill that has already been introduced as “emergency” (See B24-0890) and “temporary” (See B24-0891) legislation. Unlike the emergency and temporary versions, this bill will undergo the normal legislative process for D.C. bills, and its provisions do not have an expiration date.

B24-0942 repeals a law that went into effect in 2021 (Passed as bill B23-0171) which allowed minors 12 and older to consent to any ACIP recommended vaccine without parental consent or knowledge and requires schools, providers and insurance companies to conceal this information from parents (Subsection 600.9 of Title 22-B of the District of Columbia Municipal Regulations 51 (22-B DCMR § 600.9)). This law was challenged in court and in March 2022 the court issued a preliminary injunction prohibiting the law from taking effect.

B24-0942 applies to any child in D.C. and does not require the child to reside in D.C., so visiting families will have children at risk of being vaccinated without parental consent if this bill passes.

B24-0942 was introduced on 7/13/2022 by Councilmembers Gray and Cheh. The bill will be referred to the Council’s Committee on Health on 9/20/2022.

Please help us stop this bill!

TAKE ACTION if you live in DC:

Contact your D.C. councilmember and ask them to VOTE “NO” on B24-0942.
Contact the Committee On Health councilmembers: https://dccouncil.us/committees/committee-on-health/

(See list at the bottom of this action alert for easy access)

Contact Mayor Bowser and ask her to VETO B24-0942 if it comes to her for consideration. https://mayor.dc.gov/page/invite-mayor

TAKE ACTION if you live in Virginia or Maryland

Spread the word! Share this alert with people you know in the region, so that more D.C. residents know about this dangerous bill.

Sample script:

“Hi, my name is ____ and I am a constituent. I am calling to ask ____ to OPPOSE B24-0942.

I oppose any legislation that would allow minors to consent to vaccines without parental consent after simply attempting to contact the parents.

As declared by the U.S. Supreme Court, vaccines are pharmaceutical products that carry risk of injury or death. It is irresponsible to allow children to make medical decisions that may injure or kill them without the knowledge of their parents.

Unlike other procedures that are allowed without parental consent, such as contraception or mental health services, vaccines are not typically something a minor seeks out – but rather something that medical practitioners and school seek to push onto them. The risk of pressuring a child into a medical procedure that they don’t actually want is all too real with vaccinations.

The U.S. Federal Vaccine Injury Compensation Program has awarded over 4.4 billion dollars to vaccine victims.

Minor children may not be aware of family medical histories, and even their own young childhood history of vaccine reactions, which would be relevant to deciding if a particular vaccine’s risks outweigh the benefits.

I urge Councilmember/Mayor_______ 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:

A child may not know their personal or family medical history, including vaccine reactions, allergies and autoimmune or neurological disorders, all of which contribute to the chances that they may have a serious reaction to a vaccine.

Children do not have the same kind of critical thinking skills or emotional maturity to make a vaccine benefit-risk decision as adults have. Additionally, children and adolescents are vulnerable to authority-figure persuasion.

If a child consents to vaccination without their parent knowing and has a reaction, the parent may not recognize the reason for their child’s decline in health and this lack of knowledge could be life threatening for the child.

Share a personal story, if you have relevant experience. Do you have a vaccine-injured child, and you weren’t told about the risks before vaccinating or were pressured into vaccinating despite your concerns about the risks? Do you have family members with medical conditions that would be relevant to assessing the risks, and your child doesn’t know the details?

Vaccine makers and the healthcare providers who administer them bear zero liability for vaccine injuries and deaths. The vaccine manufacturers reap all the profits from vaccines, without having to pay for any of the injuries or harm.

The U.S. Supreme Court recognizes vaccines to be “unavoidably unsafe” and to cause injury and death in some recipients. The US Government has paid out more that $4.4 billion to the victims of vaccine injury. Hundreds of thousands have reported an adverse reaction to vaccination to VAERS. http://www.cdc.gov/vaccinesafety/ensuringsafety/monitoring/vaers/

By consenting to a vaccine, a child is also consenting to a shortened statute of limitations for any claim of injury under the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program – presumably with little or no understanding of what that means. It is also much less likely vaccine reactions will be recognized and connected to the vaccine by a child on their own; furthermore, it’s unlikely the child will file a report with the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS).

MORE INFORMATION

View text, status, and history of the bill here: https://lims.dccouncil.us/Legislation/B24-0942?FromSearchResults=true

EASY ACCESS COMMITITEE ON HEALTH CONTACT INFO:

Grey, Vincent Ward 7

Email: vgray@dccouncil.us
Telephone: tel:(202) 724-8068
Fax: (202) 741-0911

Nadeau, Brianne Ward 1

Email: bnadeau@dccouncil.us
Telephone: (202) 724-8181
Fax: (202) 724-8109

Cheh, MaryWard 3

Email: mcheh@dccouncil.us
Telephone: (202)-724-8062
Fax: (202)-724-8118

Henderson, Christina At Large

Email: chenderson@dccouncil.us
Telephone: (202) 724-8105
Fax: (202) 724-8071

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