Arizona Vaccine Mandates on the Way

Written by Dr. Judy Mikovits Date: 01-24-2019 Subject: Arizona's Top News

URGENT ALERT: BILL TO REMOVE PERSONAL VACCINE EXEMPTION FILED IN ARIZONA

Dear Arizona NVIC Advocacy Team Members,

HB 2162 has been introduced in the Arizona Legislature to COMPLETELY ELIMINATE the personal exemption to vaccines required for school in Arizona. We need you to contact the bill sponsors and your own state Representative and Senator now to oppose this bill.

Because Arizona does not have a separate religious exemption for school, the only option to delay or decline one or more of the vaccines required for school would be a medical exemption if this bill passes.

HB 2162 is amending Section 15-873, of the Arizona Revised Statutes to delete the personal exemption to vaccine mandates. You can see for yourself when you click on the bill text that the entire purpose of the bill is to delete the following from current law: "The parent or guardian of the pupil submits a signed statement to the school administrator stating that the parent or guardian has received information about immunizations provided by the department of health services and understands the risks and benefits of immunizations and the potential risks of nonimmunization and that due to personal beliefs, the parent or guardian does not consent to the immunization of the pupil."

The definition of "pupil" in the exemption section of the law being eliminated (15-871.10 Definitions) is very broad and it means: "…a person who is eligible to receive instruction at a school and includes pre-kindergarten age children receiving either services for children with disabilities or day care on a school campus otherwise exempt from day care rules pursuant to section 36-884."

HB 2162 to remove Arizona's personal vaccine exemption is sponsored by Representatives Hernandez A (primary sponsor): Blanc, Butler, Chávez, Engel, Friese, Hernandez D, Longdon, Meza and Salman.

ACTION NEEDED:

1) Contact the primary sponsor of HB 2162, Representative Alma Hernandez, and ask her to pull her bill down. Contact all the other sponsors and ask them to remove their names from the bill and remove their support. (See contact table below)

If your representative is one of the sponsors of this bill, let staff know that you are a constituent and ask for an in-person meeting with the representative as soon as you can. If you can't get an appointment in person, ask for a phone appointment.

Explain to the representatives why the personal exemption to vaccination is so important to you. If you have a personal story of vaccine injury share it with them.

If this bill moves, we will update the posting on the portal with more talking points. Right now it is very important that these sponsors hear from as many people as possible with the message to pull down the bill and remove their support because the exemption is important to their family and why it is important.

2) Contact your Arizona State House Representative and Senator and ask them to OPPOSE HB 2162. If you do not know who your Arizona State Representative or State Senator are, or their contact information, you can login to the NVIC Advocacy Portal, click on the "State Teams" tab and then "My State," and your elected officials are automatically posted on the right hand side of the page http://NVICAdvocacy.org. You can also find your state legislators here - https://www.azleg.gov/findmylegislator/

3) Login to the NVIC Advocacy Portal OFTEN to check for updates. http://NVICAdvocacy.org. We review bills and make updates daily. Bills can change many times over the legislative process and your timely visits, calls, and emails directed at the correct legislators are critical to this process.

4) Please forward this email to family and friends and ask them to register for the NVIC Advocacy Portal at http://NVICAdvocacy.org and share their concerns with their legislators as well.

Sponsors of HB 2162 - https://apps.azleg.gov/BillStatus/BillOverview/71262?SessionId=121

Representative

Phone

Contact form

Alma Hernandez, Prime Sponsor

602-926-3136

AHernandez@azleg.gov

https://www.azleg.gov/emailazleg/?legislatorId=1893

Isela Blanc

602-926-5187

iblanc@azleg.gov

https://www.azleg.gov/emailazleg/?legislatorId=1884