Oppose Minnesota Vaccine Bills

The Minnesota legislature has launched a spate of overreaching bills related to vaccines that threaten the freedom of the citizens of our state to make informed medical decisions on behalf of their children.

The bills of concern are:

• SF3439 would remove the rights of parents to obtain a conscientious exemption to the MMR vaccine for their children.
• SF4458 would eliminate all conscientious vaccine exemptions for every child in Minnesota. Freedom of religion and conscience are protected by the First Amendment of both the US Constitution and the Minnesota Constitution. Removing conscientious exemptions is a direct violation of these protections.
• SF4017 would require families seeking a conscientious exemption to complete a state-mandated “education” session with a physician to obtain approval before accessing the exemption. No one – including physicians – should be given authority over matters of faith and conscience of the people of Minnesota.
• SF4416 would allow the Minnesota Commissioner of Health alone to add vaccines to the schedule, removing an important layer of oversight. Sweeping power such as this should not be put into the hands of a single individual.

The bill to remove the conscientious exemption to the MMR, SF3439, has already moved to the Education Policy Committee while the other bills are still with the full legislature. Things can change quickly, however, so it’s critical to contact the Committee and legislators now to let them know you oppose all of these bills that risk our ability to make informed healthcare decisions for our children.

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