Original post from Children’s Health Defense here.
California’s SB.866 was scheduled for a vote on Monday, June 6.
- The good news: the bill was not brought to the Assembly floor for a vote.
- The bad news: as early as Thursday, June 9, the Assembly could bring the bill to a vote on the floor.
The California state government should not strip away parents’ rights to make important health decisions for their children and potentially place minors in danger.
If SB.866 passes, it will permit minors 12 years of age or older to consent to any vaccine approved by the FDA and recommended by the CDC without parental knowledge or consent. A similar bill in Washington, D.C., was struck down by a federal judge. The California bill is already being targeted for litigation if it passes. Make sure that the assembly members know this fact.
Reports from Sacramento suggest legislators may be feeling pressure from actions taken by constituents concerned about government overreach. The Protection of the Educational Rights of Kids (PERK) action alert generated 420,000 emails in less than 48 hours.
We must continue to flood assembly members’ inboxes and voicemails and tell them what we think. Now is the time to take action and let your voices be heard!
A. Send Email, Edit From This Sample; Go here to do so.
Email Text:
SB.866 is an extreme, anti-parent, anti-family bill that allows minors 12 years and older to consent to all vaccinations, including the new Emergency Use Authorized COVID vaccines, without parental consent. Children are not capable of making sound risk/benefit decisions without being influenced by peer pressure and coercion.
This bill allows for vaccination at home, without parental consent, and opens a pandora’s box on privacy issues, medical history oversight, and the potential for medical errors. It is not about expanding the health rights that minors already have. Instead, it leaves millions of children vulnerable to unnecessary risk, coercion, and harm by removing vital and protective parental consent.
Yet, parents know their children’s medical history, allergies, and health information best. A minor can’t even comprehend the complex nature of their medical history.
The COVID vaccine is still an experimental, investigational, and unlicensed product that should not be forced on children, who are underage, to make important health care decisions.
A similar bill in Washington, D.C., The DC Minor Consent for Vaccination,” was struck down by a federal judge. The CA bill is already being targeted for litigation if SB.866 passes.
As adults, we need to protect the children of California by keeping crucial parental rights in place.
B. Call These 28 Key Members of the State Assembly Today
. . . to express your opposition to SB.866, the bill that would allow minors as young as 12 years old to consent to vaccination without parental consent or knowledge.
- Joaquin Arambula of Fresno County 916-319-2031 and 559-445-5532
- Tasha Boerner-Horvath of north San Diego County 916-319-2076 and 760-434-7605
- Ken Cooley of Sacramento County 916-319-2008 and 916-464-1910
- Jim Cooper of Sacramento County 916-319-2009 and 916-670-7888
- Tom Daly of central Orange County 916-319-2069 and 714-939-8469
- Mike Fong of Monterey Park to Arcadia in L.A. County 916-319-2049 and 323-264-4949 — Monterey Park 91754
- Eduardo Garcia of Imperial and Riverside counties 916-319-2056 and 760-347-2360 — Coachella, CA 92236
- Mike Gipson of South-Central Los Angeles 916-319-2064 and 310-324-6408 — Gardena, CA 90248
- Adam Gray is running for the new Central Valley congressional seat that includes West Modesto, Ceres, Patterson and Newman among other central and eastern Stanislaus County communities 916-319-2021 and 209-726-5465 — Modesto, CA 95354
- Timothy Grayson of northeast Contra Costa County 916-319-2014 and 925-521-1511 — Vallejo, CA 94590
- Jacqui Irwin of southwest Ventura County 916-319-2044 and 805-482-1904 — Oxnard, CA 93030
- Brian Maienschein of north San Diego 916-319-2077 and 858-675-0077 — San Diego, CA 92128
- Chad Mayes (independent) of Palm Springs/Yucca Valley/Yucaipa 916-319-2042 and 760-346-6342 — Rancho Mirage, CA 92270
- Adrin Nazarian of Van Nuys 916-319-2046 and 818-376-4246 — Van Nuys, CA 91401
- Patrick O’Donnell of Long Beach 916-319-2070 and 562-429-0470 — Long Beach, CA 90815
- Cottie Petrie-Norris of coastal Orange County 916-319-2074 and 949-251-0074 — Irvine, CA 92612
- Sharon Quirk-Silva of Fullerton/Buena Park/Anaheim 916-319-2065 and 714-525-6515 — Fullerton, CA 92835
- James Ramos of Redlands/Loma Linda/Highland/north San Bernardino and Rancho Cucamonga 916-319-2040 and 909-476-5023 — Rancho Cucamonga, CA 91730
- Eloise Reyes of San Bernardino/Rialto/Fontana 916-319-2047 and 909-381-3238 — San Bernardino, CA 92401
- Luz Rivas of northeast San Fernando Valley — 916-319-2039 and 818-504-3911 — Arleta, CA 91331
- Robert Rivas of Monterey, San Benito, and San Cruz counties and Gilroy 916-319-2030 and 831-759-8676 — Morgan Hill, CA 95037
- Freddie Rodriguez of Ontario/Chino/Pomona — 916-319-2052 and 909-902-9606 — Chino, CA 91710
- Blanca Rubio of Azusa/Glendora/Covina and other east L.A. County communities 916-319-2048 and 626-960-4457 — West Covina, CA 91791
- Miguel Santiago of downtown Los Angeles — 916-319-2053 and 213-620-4646 — Los Angeles, CA 90013
- Rudy Salas is running for a new congressional seat covering parts of Fresno, Kern, Kings, and Tulare counties — 916-319-2032 and 661-335-0302 — Bakersfield, CA 93301
- Carlos Villapudua of Stockton and Tracy 916-319-2013 and 209-948-7479 — Stockton, CA 95202
- Lori Wilson of Fairfield/Vacaville/Rio Vista/Antioch/Brentwood 916-319-2011 — Fairfield, CA 94533
Appendix A: SB.866 Text
From https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220SB866
Amended in Senate March 09, 2022
CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE — 2021–2022 REGULAR SESSION
Senate Bill No. 866
**Introduced by Senators Wiener and Pan (Principal coauthor: Assembly Member Wicks) (Coauthor: Senator Newman) (Coauthors: Assembly Members Aguiar-Curry, Friedman, Low, Ting, and Akilah Weber) ** | January 20, 2022
An act to add Section 6931 to the Family Code, relating to minors.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST
SB 866, as amended, Wiener. Minors: vaccine consent.
Existing law prescribes various circumstances under which a minor may consent to their medical care and treatment without the consent of a parent or guardian. These circumstances include, among others, authorizing a minor 12 years of age or older who may have come into contact with an infectious, contagious, or communicable disease to consent to medical care related to the diagnosis or treatment of the disease, if the disease or condition is one that is required by law or regulation to be reported to the local health officer, or is a related sexually transmitted disease, as may be determined by the State Public Health Officer. This bill would additionally authorize a minor 12 years of age or older to consent to vaccines that meet specified federal agency criteria. The bill would authorize a vaccine provider, as defined, to administer a vaccine pursuant to the bill, but would not authorize the vaccine provider to provide any service that is otherwise outside the vaccine provider’s scope of practice.
Bill Text
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
SECTION 1.
Section 6931 is added to the Family Code, to read:
6931.
(a) A minor 12 years of age or older may consent to a vaccine that is approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration and meets the recommendations of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) of the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (ACIP) without the consent of the parent or guardian of the minor.
(b) An authorized vaccine provider may administer a vaccine pursuant to subdivision (a). For purposes of this section, “authorized vaccine provider” means a person licensed pursuant to Division 2 (commencing with Section 500) of the Business and Professions Code or a clinic or health facility licensed pursuant to Division 2 (commencing with Section 1200 of the Health and Safety Code), or any other provider authorized by the state.
(c) This section does not authorize a vaccine provider to provide any a service that is otherwise outside the vaccine provider’s scope of practice.