2019

June 9, 2019

This letter is in response to the recent rally to oppose Senate Bill 276, which would strengthen the integrity of the medical exemption process for vaccinations in California. This bill is not about handing over decisions to a government bureaucrat. It is about making sure the medical exemption process for vaccination is held to the standard of that it was meant for. The rally was covered by our local news station, KRCR. It is quoted in the article that ‘Currently, parents seek medical exemptions from vaccines for their child because they believe there is a link to autism because they believe the vaccines are not medical necessary or because their child has health issues that the vaccine would worsen.’ I am assuming this information was gleaned from the participants of the rally. Aside from the last reason (in most cases,) these are NOT contraindications for medical exemptions to vaccines. Those types of exemptions are reserved for those who can not be vaccinated for a medical reason, not because one is opposed to vaccination. This bill is to ensure that exemptions will go to the children that truly need them.

Jennifer Arnold, Redding