Gov. Jerry Brown signed a bill on Tuesday requiring that all children in California be fully vaccinated in order to attend public or private schools, regardless of their parents’ personal or religious beliefs. While medical exemptions would still be granted to children with serious health issues, other unvaccinated children would need to be homeschooled.
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Sens. Richard Pan, D-Sacramento and Ben Allen, D-Santa Monica, co-authors of the legislation, soon after addressed reporters at a news conference held at a Sacramento elementary school where none of the students have skipped vaccines due to their parents’ personal beliefs.
Dr. Eric Kodish, who specializes in pediatric ethics and oncology at the Cleveland Clinic, said there is significant evidence that legislating vaccines leads to real results.
Sen. Pan’s staff said he received death threats and images comparing him to Adolf Hitler circulated online. Many of those infected were too young, or medically unable to get the vaccine.
In the legislature, the bill was opposed mostly by Republicans, who disagreed with the provision that would eliminate parents’ right to opt out for religious reasons, although Republican leaders said they had vaccinated their own children. Richard Pan, a California pediatrician, and Sen.
The governor appears to have changed his position on religious belief exemptions for childhood vaccinations, which are now banned under the bill he signed Tuesday. The Senate voted 24 to 14 on Monday in favour of minor amendments to the bill.
The divisive debate about SB 277 touched on the efficacy and safety of vaccines and forced lawmakers to choose between the rights of parents who do not believe immunizing their children is safe and the rights of parents to send their children to school without the risk of contracting diseases.
“This is sound public health, and we hope Gov. Brown’s swift signature on the bill shows how important it is for California”. The measure applies to public and private schools, as well as day care facilities.
“When I was a kid it was three shots, then when my kids were growing up it was eight shots”, Moorlach said.
Heavy opposition steadily grew as the bill faced heated debate in the State Senate, stalling for a short time in the Senate Education Committee. They have even found support from legislative Republicans and some Democrats, who have accused the state of suppressing informed consent. For both adults and children who get the shot, high levels of protection decrease after the first two years, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Brown said he was able to support the measure because the authors agreed to make it easier to obtain medical exemptions.
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The bill, approved by state lawmakers earlier in June, exempts a child if a doctor says there are “circumstances, including but not limited to, family medical history, for which the physician doesn’t recommend immunization”.
