Action Alert: Dangerous Anti-Vaccine Legislation to be Debated on the Floor of the Missouri House This Week
Legislation: House Bill 37 will be introduced to the Missouri House floor sometime this week (April 26 – April 30). This legislation would radically expand vaccine exemptions to include a conscientious belief exemption and require all public schools to accept vaccination exemptions written by parents without a doctor’s signature. This bill exempts private schools from requiring any immunizations.
HB 37 has also been amended to prohibit entities in the state from issuing or requiring vaccine passports or vaccination records (i.e. COVID-19 vaccination record cards). The addition of this language is intended to garner broader support, even though a vaccine passport has not been proposed or endorsed in Missouri.
Additionally, the language of HB 37 has been amended on to House Bill 682, a bill limiting public colleges from requiring students to live in on-campus housing. HB 682 could be introduced on the Missouri House floor at any time.
Your Action is Needed Now:
MAIC urges you to reach out to your Kansas City area representatives and tell them to vote “no” on HB 37 and its amendments. The proposed policy changes below should be referenced in your communication as reasons to oppose HB 37. Each provision would dilute Missourians’ protection from preventable diseases.
- Treats our children differently based on whether they attend public or private day care, preschool or K-12 by eliminating all vaccination requirements for the 120,000 kids attending a private school or day care.
- Expands the vaccination exemption beyond medical and religious objections to include a conscientious belief objection, reducing herd immunity for Missouri kids.
- Requires MODHSS to develop a brochure outlining the exemption process and posting to the web site, effectively forcing the agency charged with immunity and disease prevention to undermine its own evidence-based mission.
- Eliminates MODHSS from enacting new vaccine requirements that would protect Missourians from future diseases.
Also, check out this infographic. It is important that members of Nurture KC and MAIC remind legislators of the importance of meaningful vaccination requirements to achieve herd immunity for Missouri’s kids.
Contact:
Shelby Ostrom
Director of Community Initiatives, Overseeing MAIC
913.909.7197
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