SB 866 (as amended on 6/16): Vaccine Consent for Minors
Authors: Senator Wiener and Senator Pan
Position: Strongly OPPOSE
Current Status
SB 866 has been stopped on the Assembly Floor. The author of SB 866, Senator Scott Wiener, moved to have the bill placed on the inactive file. Yesterday was the last day of the legislative session, and SB 866 was not voted on. SB 866 has been defeated!
We are thankful to God and for all who participated in winning this tremendous victory!
We have strongly opposed SB 866 from the start. Thank you for your important prayers and phone calls that played a key part in this victory!
Summary of Concern
SB 866 would have authorized a minor 15 years of age or older to consent to vaccines that meet FDA (U.S. Food and Drug Administration) approval and meets the recommendations of the ACIP (Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices), without the consent of the parent or guardian. The bill also would have authorized a vaccine provider, as defined, to administer a vaccine pursuant to the bill.
Parental choice about which vaccines their minor children will receive would have been entirely thrown out by SB 866. This was goin to be an incremental step toward giving minor children autonomy outside of their parents’ protection and making the government the “parent” by overriding parents’ beliefs and choices regarding their children’s medical treatments. Beyond that, the bill would have eroded a parent’s authority and responsibility over their children’s health and gives the final choice to the child and the state government.
SB 866 is a mandate for children! SB 866 requires children aged 15 and older to make a decision for themselves whether or not to get any vaccine meeting the bill’s requirement regardless of their parents’ knowledge, wisdom, or wishes. Children will be forced to make a medical decision–in many cases–under pressure and for the very first time.
- Information Included in This Action Alert:
- A. Action Items
- B. Opposition Points
- C. Background
- D. Conclusion
A. Action Item
Please complete the following action item. Always contact legislators as a parent and citizen. Do not call or write as a homeschooler.
1) Immediately call the Assembly Member who represents your district.
Tell them: “Please vote no on SB 866. Parents should retain authority over their minor children’s health care decisions.”
Call your Assembly Member TODAY to make your voice heard! Click the button below and enter your address in order to find out who your representatives are.
The name under the green banner, as shown below, is your Assembly Member. Contact them by clicking their name and calling the number on their webpage.
At the bottom of their website, find their Capitol Office phone number and call today to voice your opposition to SB 866.
This is the LAST CHANCE in the legislature to voice your opposition to SB 866! If it is passed by the Assembly, it will go to the desk of Governor Newsom. From there it would become law if signed by the Governor.
Quickly pass on this action alert to others who might respond and call their Assembly Member!
Notes:
- Always contact legislators as a parent and citizen. This bill affects all families with children.
- This is not an exclusively homeschool issue. Do not call or write as a homeschooler.
- Do not disclose the source of this Action Alert. All bills are available on the Internet.
- Pass this on to your friends, church, school, and group.
- Pray for a proper outcome.
B. Opposition Points
- Basic Family Structure Undermined by SB 866 – This Bill Continues To Erode the Structure Of the Family. The main concern is not over effectiveness or safety of any particular vaccine, but is primarily about protecting children from being separated by law from their parents’ authority and protection. SB 866 directly deals with vaccinations, but what will be next? Decisions about where to attend school, what friends to spend time with, what TV shows or movies to watch or where to spend time online?
- Parents Obstructed from Defending their Children by SB 866 – A child as young as 15 would be faced with new questions and choices about their own health or medical decisions that may be beyond their medical knowledge or experience. Children would be able to decide with immediate action without a parent’s knowledge or consent. This would leave parents with no chance to respond with relevant information about their own children’s health, such as an allergy a child may not be aware they have.
- Parents oppose SB 866 because it removes their authority and protective duty to their children. SB 866 replaces the state’s authority with their own, treating children primarily as wards of the state before members of a family. Some parents will fear going to the doctor over concerns about their children being pressured into uninformed or one-sided medical decisions.
- Educators oppose SB 866 because it further alienates families from the educational and social networks of trust, possibly putting teachers and educators at odds with the medical community and parents.
- ER Doctors oppose SB 866 because when a child is brought into the ER with a healthcare emergency, the doctor can’t find out from the parents what is going on with the child if the parents didn’t know that the child has received a vaccine with an allergen.
C. Background
Under this bill, children aged 15 and older may consent to receiving any vaccine meeting the bill’s requirement regardless of their parents’ wishes.
The main concern is not over effectiveness or safety of any particular vaccine but is primarily about protecting children from being separated by law from their parents’ authority and protection.
You cannot sue a vaccine manufacturer for vaccine injuries. Pharmaceutical companies have blanket immunity granted by the federal government. The federal government created the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (VICP) in the 1980s to “provide financial compensation to individuals who file a petition and are found to have been injured by a VICP-covered vaccine.”[1] You may be compensated up to $250,000 through the VICP.[2] From 1989 to September 1, 2021, the VICP has paid out, or “awarded,” $4.2 billion in vaccine injury and vaccine death cases, for a total of $4.6 billion including attorney fees for both awarded and dismissed cases.[3]
The Countermeasures Injury Compensation Program (CICP) is available to those who claim a COVID-19 vaccine injury. However, proving a vaccine injury is not the easiest. The CICP has compensated less than 6% of the claims filed in the last decade.[4]
In 2011, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that vaccines are “unavoidably unsafe.”[5] According to a report submitted to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, “adverse events from drugs and vaccines are common, but underreported…. fewer than 1% of vaccine adverse events are reported.”[6]
For more information about COVID-19 Vaccines, please see our “Research Summaries of COVID-19 Vaccines & COVID-19 Illness in Children and Adults.”
D. Conclusion
SB 866 is a turning point when it comes to parental rights and authority over their children given by God. This bill would remove parents from the situation concerning their child receiving the COVID-19 vaccine and any other vaccine meeting the bill’s requirements. In fact, parents are clearly mentioned once in the bill, but only to remove their consent in their children’s vaccination decisions.
The risks and benefits of any and all vaccinations that may alter a child’s health should be the responsibility of the parents and not the state nor the child. Parents must be aware that this bill removes parents as the protector and provider for their children and puts the state in their place instead.
For more information and resources, please refer to A Voice for Choice.
Endnotes
[1] “National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program,” Official web site of the U.S. Health Resources & Services Administration (HRSA, May 2, 2022), https://www.hrsa.gov/vaccine-compensation/index.html.
[2] “What You Need to Know About the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program,” Health Resources & Services Administration (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, August 1, 2021), accessed August 12, 2021, https://www.hrsa.gov/sites/default/files/vaccinecompensation/resources/84521booklet.pdf, page 13.
[3] “National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program Monthly Statistics Report,” Health Resources & Services Administration (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, August 1, 2021), accessed September 9, 2021, https://www.hrsa.gov/sites/default/files/hrsa/vaccine-compensation/data/data-statistics-report.pdf, page 9.
[4] MacKenzie Sigalos, “You Can’t Sue Pfizer or Moderna If You Have Severe Covid Vaccine Side Effects. the Government Likely Won’t Compensate You for Damages Either,” CNBC (CNBC, December 23, 2020), https://www.cnbc.com/2020/12/16/covid-vaccine-side-effects-compensation-lawsuit.html.
[5] Bruesewitz v. Wyeth LLC, 131 S. Ct. 1068, 179 L.Ed.2d 1 (2011).
[6] Ross Lazarus MBBS. “Electronic Support for Public Health–Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System,” Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, Inc (2010), accessed August 13, 2021, https://digital.ahrq.gov/sites/default/files/docs/publication/r18hs017045-lazarus-final-report-2011.pdf, pg. 6.
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