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Letter to NY Assembly Member Urging Passage of Vaccination/Patient Rights Bills
Dear Assembly Member _ _ _ _,
I urge you to sponsor and support the "Vaccination Religious Exemption" bill (A.8383) and the "Vaccination Physician Prevail" (A. 8382) bill, recently introduced by Assembly Health Committee Chairman Dick Gottfried (and into the state senate by State Senator Frank Padavan).
The "Religious Exemption" amendment would assure that individuals (usually parents/guardians on behalf of their school age children), when claiming their legal right to a religious exemption from mandated vaccination, are not subjected to interrogations into their personal religious beliefs and practices by local school authorities. There have been numerous instances in which authorities do, in fact, subject law abiding citizens to just such outrageous intrusions, including accessing family medical records, while seeking to validate that their beliefs are "sincere." A rather shocking example of this can be seen in the
lengthy questionnaire a Rockland county school superintendent has been subjecting parents to. It can be read at
http://nyvic.org/nyvic/law/2005/31questions.htm.
What is ironic is that, while not wishing to over generalize, these parents reportedly have healthier children, owing to the seriousness with which they accept THEIR responsibility to ensure that their children are kept healthy not only by prayers and practices, but by proper nourishment and nurturing because they have chosen a sacred and spiritual commitment.
The "Physician Prevail" bill seeks to solidify the doctor/patient relationship regarding medical exemptions to vaccinations. As the bill's memo puts it: A patient's physician or nurse practitioner is in the best position to decide if a vaccination or vaccinations should not be administered to the patient. Government agencies should defer to these professional judgments.
Neither amendment would concern more than a tiny fraction of the population and are unlikely to affect immunization rates at all. Finally, and more importantly, both bills are sensible, fair and restore rights and freedoms that make America the great country that it is.
The full text of the bills are at:
"Religious Exemption" bill - www.assembly.state.ny.us/leg/?bn=A08383&sh=t
"Physician Prevail" bill - www.assembly.state.ny.us/leg/?bn=A08382&sh=t
Please sponsor and support this legislation. I look forward to your reply. Thank you.
Very truly yours,
Frank Fitzgerald
212 East 89th Street
New York, NY 10128
cc: Assemblymember Gottfried
P.S. I am an active supporter of New Yorkers for Vaccination Information and Choice (NYVIC). Additional information about these bills may be found at
http://nyvic.org/nyvic/law/2005/.
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