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and Question Students Without Parents!
Comments due by Monday September 21
In 2021, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court struck down the statewide school mask mandate. Now the Department of Health has written a rule to get that power back, and moreโthe rule gives the state of Pennsylvania broad quarantine authority, allows private interviews with students at school, and permits audits of patient records.
ACTION TO TAKE
- Submit a public comment before Monday, September 21.
Email both addresses:
Subject line (copy it exactly): Rulemaking #10-242: Communicable and Noncommunicable Diseases; IRRC #3490
Say who you are and which county you live in. Name the part of the rule that concerns you (see below). Ask for it to be removed or changed. Use your own words. Identical form letters are counted as one comment.
SAMPLE COMMENT
“My name is ____ and I live in ____ County. I oppose the proposed changes to 28 Pa. Code Chapter 27. Do not add ‘prevention, containment or mitigation’ to Section 27.60; the Supreme Court’s reading of the current rule is the right limit on this power. Section 27.60c should require that parents are notified and may be present before any student is questioned at school. Please withdraw these provisions.”
2. Stand with Pennsylvania’s midwives.
On July 2, Pennsylvania midwives went to court to keep Pennsylvania’s 1929 midwife law alive. Ten days later the Governor signed a budget bill that repealed it. Midwives who have served Amish and Mennonite families for decades can now be charged with a crime. Their case is before the Commonwealth Court. See https://www.goldmanlawteam.com/midwifery
It all happened fast, and the midwives have just set up a proper legal defense fund, one where every dollar goes to the attorneys. Please give generously. https://app.practicepanther.com/Payment/OneLinkPayment/d2797dc1-cf31-4e9c-a3e5-7df20dd2d769
However, for now, the most useful thing you can do is comment on the rule above and forward this to Pennsylvania families you know.
WHAT THE PROPOSED RULE DOES
- Lets the state order isolation, quarantine, and “any other disease control measure” it thinks is needed, for “prevention, containment or mitigation.” That is the power the Court said it did not have. (Section 27.60)
- Lets health officials come into schools and talk to your child in private, during class. The school may not stop them. Parents are not mentioned. (Section 27.60c)
- Lets county health departments open and audit HIV patient records. (Sections 27.32d and 27.32e)
- Requires state permission before a quarantined person may leave Pennsylvania. (Section 27.67)
- Adds more diseases to the mandatory report list and sends hospital emergency room data to a state tracking system.
- This is a rule, not a law. No legislator votes on it. The Department of Health and the Independent Regulatory Review Commission decide. Public comment is the only say we get.
MORE INFORMATION
- The proposed rule (PDF):ย https://www.irrc.state.pa.us/docs/3490/AGENCY/3490PRO.pdf
- IRRC’s page for this rule, with every public comment filed so far:ย https://www.irrc.state.pa.us/regulations/RegSrchRslts.cfm?ID=3505
- The 2021 case: Corman v. Acting Secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Health, Pennsylvania Supreme Court
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