Comments on this legislation Post new comment Text and Analysis Add to Watch List
Previous Next
- Introduced by Rep. Barbara Bailey (Oak Harbor) (R) on January 10, 2011, to broaden the authority to furnish a certificate to exempt a child from immunization from licensed physicians to other health care practitioners, such as naturopaths, or physicians assistants. Requires that the certification must include a statement stating that the health care practitioners provided the parent or guardian with information about the benefits and risks of immunization (Companion: SB 5005).
- Referred to the House Health Care & Wellness Committee on January 10, 2011.
- Referred to the House Rules Committee on February 4, 2011.
- Passed 79 to 14 in the House on February 14, 2011, to require the form used to exempt a child from school immunizations to include a statement, to be signed by a health care practitioner, that information on the benefits and risks of immunization has been provided to the parent or legal guardian.
Who Voted "Yes" and Who Voted "No" - Moved to reconsider in the House on February 14, 2011. The motion passed by voice vote in the House on February 14, 2011.
- Received in the House on February 14, 2011. Passed 75 to 18 in the House on February 14, 2011.
Who Voted "Yes" and Who Voted "No" - Received in the Senate on February 15, 2011.
- Referred to the Senate Health & Long-Term Care Committee on February 15, 2011.
- Received in the House on January 12, 2012.
- Referred to the House Health Care & Wellness Committee on January 12, 2012.
Comments
1) Re: 2011 House Bill 1015 (Certification of exemption from immunization) by noshots4me on February 21, 2011The description of this bill, HB1015, is extremely misleading. It does NOT broaden the authority of those who can sign a religious exemption or philosophical exemption. It RESTRICTS IT. The way those two exemptions from vaccinations are now, the parent has to sign, period. Which is the way it should be. HB1015, and its companion SB5005, both violate First and Fourteenth Amendment Rights. Doctors, and even naturopaths, should not be gatekeepers for non-medical exemptions. WA has a medical exemption and these bills in effect convert the religious exemption and philosophical exemption to a medical exemption. Medical practitioners are under no obligation to sign the exemptions but parents are required to obtain a signature. They will be forced into a paid contractual relationship with a practitioner they might not otherwise choose to utilize with no guarantee of obtaining a signature. It is very likely practitioners will be unwilling to sign because it opens up liability for them. They are only protected when they give a vaccine, not when they help someone obtain an exemption. If practitioners are unwilling to sign, the exemptions are essentially eliminated which is what Governor Gregoire wants. She requested the bills and is "frustrated with the state's low vaccination rate". The State has no business creating entanglement between themselves and parents when it comes to obtaining a religious or philosophical exemption. This is the THIRD session these bills have been attempted. They should be adamantly opposed and defeated. If either pass and become and act of law, there WILL be a Federal injuction filed for declaratory and injunctive relief as there is no doubt about the unconstitutionality of these bills.
If this bill becomes law, it will put doctors, nurses and other medical
personnel in the legal position of acting as inquisitors of religious beliefs
held by fellow citizens, which is an invasion of privacy and a de facto
violation of First Amendment rights. Americans associated with the medical
profession will have the power to sit in judgment of, or interfere with, the
free exercise of religious, spiritual or conscientious beliefs of other
Americans. It will also make it easier for doctors to punish parents making
selective vaccine choices by denying their children medical care, which is the
official policy of many U.S. pediatricians. Today, vaccine exemptions in many states in
the U.S. are under attack by lobbyists working for wealthy and politically
powerful pharmaceutical companies selling vaccines for profit, companies that
are desperate to protect a multi-billion dollar vaccine business. We all have our human right to make voluntary decisions about vaccination, which involves pharmaceutical products that carry risks of injury or death.
Introduced in the House on January 10, 2011
Click here to view bill details.
Your new comments should be made in the box below.