SACRAMENTO-
The same committee that held up a vote on a bill that tightened up vaccination requirements for school kids passed the measure on a 7 to 2 vote.
Members of the Senate Education Committee held up a vote after hundreds of parents, educations and medical professionals testified that doing away with the personal belief exemption from vaccinations was an unnecessary infringement of parental rights.
No testimony was allowed when the committee took up the bill again. It was amended by co-authors Senator Ben Allen and Senator Richard Pan after key committee members felt the bill was forcing parents to remove their kids from school and forcing them to home school instead. Many felt that home schooling wasn’t an option for working parents.
That didn’t satisfy Senator Connie Leyva.
“This will not go far enough to help a two income family who cannot home school their child or a single working parent,” Leyva said.
Others voted for the bill hoping for further changes as it goes to other committees. There was an overriding concern that too many parents are using the personal exemption to opt out of vaccinations.
“Without this bill and the trends we’re seeing in exemptions, it would result in an epidemic of measles,” Sen. Marty Block said.
“We’re going to continue to massage aspects of the bill to make sure we protect the public as well as preserving parents rights and options,” Allen said.
But organizers of the opposition say they were disappointed at the vote.
“That is a decision that does not belong in government and those decisions must be left up to the parents and the doctors,” said parent Lisa Bakshi.
The bill’s next stop is the Senate Judiciary Committee, which will examine legal and constitutionality issues.
