NH Conscientious Belief Exemption Bill Hearings
Posted: 1/20/2010 8:58:40 PM | with 12 comments
by Dawn Richardson
NVIC Director of State Advocacy
The New Hampshire Coalition for Vaccine Choice (www.vacchoicenh.org) led by NVIC members Eileen Landies and Melanie Streeter will be participating in a public hearing on Jan. 28, 2010 in Concord, New Hampshire on proposed legislation for conscientious belief exemption to vaccination (HB 1555). They need the support of everyone who wants to help secure the right to make informed, voluntary vaccine decisions in New Hampshire.
A fundamental parent right
One of the most fundamental and important parental rights is for parents to have the final say over what drugs and vaccines are put into their child’s body. Whether you chose to consent to your child receiving a particular vaccine or not, the important thing is that it is ultimately your decision and not the decision of a government health or school official or anyone else.
One Size Does Not Fit All
Unfortunately, there are still states that make receiving an education contingent upon a child being injected with dozens of CDC recommended and government mandated vaccines. The problem with this is that every child is different and every vaccine is different: one size does not fit all. Ensuring that all states have informed consent protections in their laws in the form of strong medical, religious and conscientious belief exemptions is the only way to protect our freedom to make voluntary health care decisions, including voluntary decisions about vaccination.
Here is What You Can Do
Here is how you can help even if you do not live in New Hampshire: please forward this message to everyone you know in New Hampshire so they know about this bill and can contact their friends and colleagues.
If you are a resident of New Hampshire, there are five steps you can take to make your voice heard and show your support:
- Attend the Jan. 28, 2010 public hearing for HB 1555 in Concord New Hampshire next Thursday at 11 a.m. in the Legislative Office Building (LOB), Room 205.
http://vacchoicenh.org/Attending_a_Hearing.html
- If you can’t attend the hearing, send a letter to members of the Health Human Services and Elderly Affairs Committee.
http://vacchoicenh.org/Action_Alert.html
- Send a letter to your own elected representative.
You can link to http://vacchoicenh.org/Action_Alert.html and scroll down to “Finding and Contacting You Representatives.”
- If you or a family member have suffered from a vaccine injury and are willing to help by sharing a vaccine reaction experience, please contact Eileen and Melanie directly at vacchoicenh@gmail.com.
- Forward this information to everyone you know in New Hampshire. Please remember to reach out to supportive health care practitioners asking for their testimony and letters too.
Together, we can help the “Live Free or Die” state restore parental rights back in favor of informed consent to vaccination with a conscientious belief exemption.
About Dawn Richardson
Dawn Richardson is president of PROVE (Parents Requesting Open Vaccine Education), a statewide parent rights advocacy network in Austin, Texas she co-founded in 1997. She was appointed Director of State Advocacy for the National Vaccine Information Center in October 2009.
Securing Informed Consent Rights in Texas
An activist Mom, Dawn has led a highly successful 12 year public information campaign in Texas and in the Texas Legislature to promote awareness about vaccine safety, medical privacy and informed consent issues. Her work has contributed to positive legislative changes, including the passage of a statewide conscientious belief exemption to vaccination in 2003; the vacating of a gubernatorial executive order for mandatory HPV vaccines for 6th grade girls in 2007; and institution of medical privacy protections in a statewide vaccine tracking system and a newborn DNA storage system.
Defeating HPV Vaccine Mandates
Dawn graduated with a BS in electrical engineering from the University of Connecticut and her vocational and educational experience in science and computer engineering has helped to shape her leading role in the criticism of mandatory one-size-fits-all vaccine policies and vaccine tracking systems. She has appeared in many media reports in Texas and nationally defending parents’ right to refuse vaccines. Her February 2007 appearance on the NBC “Today Show” calling for the repeal of the Texas Governor's Executive Order mandating Gardasil vaccine for all sixth grade girls was instrumental in raising public awareness in Texas that the Executive Order should be overridden by the legislature.
Debating Doctors & Speaking Out
She has publicly debated doctors and spoken at health conferences about how vaccine safety is taking a backseat to genetic technologies and how drug companies are spending millions of dollars lobbying legislatures for stronger vaccine mandates, while government-operated computerized vaccine tracking systems are being used to enforce compliance.
Developing a National State-Based Vaccine Choice Network
Dawn led the vaccine choice advocacy training sessions at
NVIC’s Oct. 2-4, 2009 Fourth International Public Conference on Vaccination. As NVIC's Director of State Advocacy, she is developing a national state-based communications and organizing network to help Americans secure vaccine safety, privacy and informed consent protections in state public health laws to protect voluntary vaccine choices in America.
Posted: 1/20/2010 8:58:40 PM | with 12 comments