Vaccine Rights: Legislation & Policy Projects

NORTH CAROLINA:

May 2013: HB 693 seeks to repeal sec. 90-21.5(a), a very good thing, but has some problems with replacement language. See this revised Memorandum detailing the problems with 9021.5(a) sent to sponsors of HB 693 on May 17, 2013..
March 2013: See this article by Atty Phillips published by Natural News about this issue.
March 2012: Sec. 90-21.5(a) allows children to consent to vaccines and other medical procedures. This Memorandum (revised 4-13-12) explains why this statute violates state and federal Constitutional provisions and statutes. This law should be repealed or substantially amended..

MICHIGAN: September 2012: HB 5605, a bill to prohibit hospitals from mandating flu shots for hospital employees. This letter was read to the Health Policy Committee, it was required to be 3 minutes or less in length.
NEW YORK: April 2012: A343 and S384 (same as A343) would allow children under the age of 18 to consent to HPV and Hep B vaccines without parental knowledge and consent. This Memorandum (revised 4-13-12) explains why this proposed law is blatantly unconstitutional and should be withdrawn. Share this memorandum with your NY representatives!
CALIFORNIA: March 2012: AB 2109 (link is to bill search page) seeks to make healthcare providers gatekeepers of non-medical vaccine exemptions. This Legal Memorandum (revised 4-13-12) explains why AB 2109 violates the Constitution and is bad law for other practical, financial, and ethical reasons. CA residents are urged to present this to their state legislators along with any other objections they may have to this bill.
VERMONT: March 2012: SB 199 seeks to remove VT's philosophical exemption.

July 2012: VT's new philosophical-religious exemption form
May 2012: Bill as passed by house and senate
May 1, 2012: Letter to VT legislature and citizens regarding recent change in bill language.
Attorney Phillips's testimony given in writing and orally on March 29, 2012 to the VT legislative house health care committee.
This March 7th letter to the VT legislature explains why the exemption should not be removed.
February 2012: SB 199's temporarily proposed language as of 2-10-12 would require a healthcare provider to sign off on religious and philosophical exemptions. This 2-11-12 Letter to the VT Legislature explains why this is legally, morally and ethically imroper.

U.S.: February 2012: Open Letter to Pediatricians who refuse to treat unvaccinated, legally exempt children. Presents legal, ethical, professional and common sense considerations against this policy. Use is freely granted, provided responsibility for use is solely that of the user.
EEOC - Healthcare Worker Rights: February 2012: Attorney Phillips has sent a Request and Memorandum to Chairman of the Equal Opportunity Employment Commission (EEOC) requesting a formal Opinion addressing the many questions underlying the widespread, inconsistent unlawful rejection of healthcare workers' request for a religious exemption to employer-required vaccines across the nation. The Chairman is not required to write an Opinion, but Attorney Phillips makes a compelling case for one to be issued
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PROPOSED NEW VACCINE EXEMPTION FORMS IN COLORADO: August 2011: Colorado joins national trend to implement unconstitutional restrictions on vaccine exemptions: your state could be next, Natural News, Aug 3, 2011

Response from the the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, Sept 6, 2011

NAVY POLICY AND REGULATION REVISIONS: April 2011:
The Navy has changed vaccine exemption policy and regulations in response to a request for the same from Attorney Phillips. Natural News article HERE.
NORTH CAROLINA: May 2011:

Local School Vaccine Contest (Vaccine Policy Matter):

May 9, 2011 Letter to Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools, NC School Superintendent Pedersen objecting to the County-Sponsored adolecsent student vaccine contest--kids can win i-Pods or a laptop for getting vaccinated.
May 15, 2011 School district superintendent's reply
May 15, 2011 Article in the Chapel Hill News
June 2, 2011: Apple Says That You Can't Give Away A 'Free' iPad Or iPhone In A Contest, Wireless

SB 508, introduced on April 5, 2011, seeks to clarify the application of routine medical and religious exemptions to vaccines in a declared emergency.
For more on exemption rights in declared emergencies, see the Pandemic Response Project, the Swine Flu Review and NC Addendum, and Feb 8, 2011 Letter to NC DHHS.

SOUTH CAROLINA: April 2011: Letter to SC Legislature regarding unconstitutional regulatory requirement for membership in an organized religion for vaccine religious exemption, at the request of a SC resident.
WASHINGTON STATE: April 2011:

Revised April 7, 2011: Letter to WA Governor and Health Care Committee explaining why House and Senate versions of SB 5005 and HB 1015 are unconstitutional.
April 14, 2011: Why SB 5005 is Unconstitutional

NEW JERSEY: February 2011: Constitutional Arguments Against ACR157
NEW HAMPSHIRE: February 2011: Letter to the NH general assembly arguing the moral and ethical imperative for vaccine philosophical exemptions. Revised Article Here.
May 2010: NORTH CAROLINA: Attorney Phillips drafted a Legal Memorandum to help NC parents obtain alternate school facilities for exempt children when they are excluded from public school during a local infectious disease outbreak. For such exclusion to occur due to children's parents' exercise of a federal Constitutional First Amendment right--a vaccine religious exemption--is unfair, and possibly a violation of parents' Constitutional rights. Attorney Phillips and other NC citizens will be meeting with NC legislators on this matter in the near future.
May 2010: KANSAS: Attorney Phillips authored this Legal Memorandum to support KS residents' effort to modify their religious exemption statute, which currently requires membership in an organized religion with tenets in opposition to the immunization requirements. Such laws were held to be unconsitutional in five other states. This memorandum will be presented to state legislators in KS in the near future.
April 2010: MICHIGAN: Attorney Phillips helped a MI resident draft This Letter to state officials regarding inappropriate language in the state's religious exemption form that parents must sign to exercise the exemption. The form erroneously, unethically, and possibly unlawfully accuses parents of creating a health risk by exercising their federal Constitutional First Amendment right, and state right, to refuse vaccines for religious reasons. This letter has been sent to state officials in MI.
2009-2010: Attorney Phillips provided support to citizens of NEW HAMPSHIRE and MISSISSIPPI for their efforts to enact philosophical exemptions, and to citizens of WEST VIRGINIA for their efforts to enact a religious exemption.