PLEASE NOTE: This is the first of a series of updates and action requests that we will be sending this month. We hope that you will take the time to read all of our coming emails because the preservation of medical freedom relies on the grassroots efforts of citizens like you!
Dear Fellow Vaccine Choice Advocates,The current media frenzy over measles has emboldened those who want to remove your right to make independent medical choices for yourself and your family. In the midst of bad news, be encouraged! An excellent bill has been introduced in the PA House. Please support it by following the guidelines below. Representative Daryl Metcalfe sponsored HB 286, The Informed Consent Protection Act, which has been assigned to the House Health Committee. This bill would stop children from being denied medical care because they do not receive all CDC recommended vaccines. If passed, a health care practitioner or facility will not be permitted to refuse to treat a child solely because the parent/guardian has chosen to delay or decline one or more vaccines, nor would the parent have to sign a self-incriminating form to receive medical care. Physicians would not be rewarded or penalized based on the vaccine status of their patients by insurance or vaccine companies, and vaccine status can not be the sole reason to initiate a Child Protective Services investigation. A Press Conference hosted by PA Representative Daryl Metcalfe is scheduled to take place at the Capitol Media Center in the Harrisburg Capitol Complex on 4/30 at 10:00 to support HB 286. Please plan to attend and bring your friends and relatives! (Details below.)
Speakers Presenting on Behalf of HB286 Include:
Pre-Press Conference ACTION STEPS NEEDED:
1) Identify your PA Representative by entering your address HERE. Record their Capitol office location if you are attending the press conference. (Do not contact your US House member for this issue.)
2) Invite your legislator to the Press Conference. Please print and send or drop off aPress Conference Invitation to your representative.
3) Call or visit your own PA Representative and politely ask them to CO-SPONSOR HB 286. Let them know about any problems you have had with medical practices regarding your vaccine choices, including being refused care or being harassed. Personal visits are the most effective way to tell your story. If you have a dismissal letter from your child’s doctor, be sure to bring/send a copy for your representative.
To make your visit easier, materials have been provided for you to print and distribute to your representative or their staff. See Agenda, Basic Vax Facts sheet&Pay for Performance sheet. Simply covering the information on these fact sheets will bring them a much greater awareness about the need for vaccine choice!
4) Plan on attending the Press Conference for HB 286 in Harrisburg on April 30! We currently have a Facebook event page for the event HERE, but will soon have event details on our website as well.
Some Helpful Links for Coming to Harrisburg: MEDIA CENTER, Parking Information, Visiting the CapitolThe front entry has many steps; the back entry is flatter, but there is less parking.
If possible, plan to arrive in Harrisburg by 9:15 to park, go through security, locate PCIC members, find the Press Room, let any accompanying children move around for a few minutes, and find a seat. Strollers are allowed.
Look for PCIC volunteers to direct you to the Press Room.
We suggest that you dress neatly (when in Rome…). To show solidarity, we encourage you to wear black and red clothing, though this is not a requirement.
Children are invited, but, please quietly exit the room if they become distracting during the press conference. We will all meet again after the press conference to walk the halls and eat together, so please don’t fret if you have to temporarily leave the room.
Many members of the press will be invited. If you are approached by a reporter, do not feel pressured to give an interview. You can simply refer press inquiries to PCIC leadership, the speakers, or Representative Metcalfe.
After the press conference, PCIC will have volunteers to guide you through the capitol to visit legislator offices. Knowing the office address of your representative and senator will be useful at this time. Materials will be provided for you to distribute, and people can go in groups.
From 12:00 – 2:00, PCIC has reserved tables in Section B, outside of the cafeteria, which has a wide variety of reasonably priced meal options. You are allowed to bring your own food as well. If possible, plan to stay, eat, and connect with other like-minded families and meet those who are from your area of the state.
(After the meetings, you may want to tour the beautiful capitol building; tours start in the main rotunda every half hour until 4:00. The State Museum is beside the capitol.)
5) Please forward this e-mail to other like-minded Pennsylvanians. Follow us on Facebook and sign up at our website (www.InformedConsentPA.org) for e-mail updates. All PCIC leaders volunteer their time and your contributions support our website, email service, printing, postage, and other material costs.
6) In light of the recent communication disruption from our email provider and the growing threat of censorship from online platforms, we encourage you to sign up for state updates at NVICAdvocacy.org, the advocacy arm of the National Vaccine Information Center (NVIC.org). Your information is kept secure with them, and if PCIC’s communication lines are compromised, NVIC Advocacy will be able to keep you informed of state issues. Their advocacy portal also monitors and updates all PA bills relating to vaccine choice.
We look forward to seeing you in Harrisburg on 4/30. If you are unable to come, PLEASE start building a relationship with your local representative and his or her staff at their local district office.
Sincerely,
The PCIC Leadership Team
Previous Alerts
It’s Go Time!
Dear Medical Freedom Advocates,
January 2019 marked the beginning of a new two-year legislative session for lawmakers in Pennsylvania. Many of the bills that did not pass last session have been reintroduced, including the Informed Consent Protection Act! This bill will prevent pediatricians from refusing care to patients based on their vaccine choices. It would also prevent pediatricians from forcing parents to sign the misleading and shaming vaccine refusal form as recommended by the AAP.
The new number for this bill is HB286.
This legislation is of paramount importance to all Pennsylvanians who value their right to make medical decisions for their own body and family without coercion or discrimination. Refusing healthcare to babies and children who choose to defer even one vaccine is unethical and it must be brought to the attention of every legislator here in PA. The sad truth is, the medical establishment will get away with this unless WE bring it into the light. The majority of legislators and even the general population has NO IDEA that this discrimination is occurring in pediatric offices. We must educate!
This is why we are introducing our “once-a-month” education campaign, urging all Vaccine Choice Advocates to provide educational material to at least one PA legislative office per month. We currently have several excellent fact sheets available for download on our website that serve as effective educational tools and have recently created this fact sheet, outlining the blatant misleading of the AAP Vaccine Refusal form. We also always encourage you to share your personal stories with the legislative staff and, when you are comfortable, pursue scheduling a one-on-one meeting with your Pennsylvania representative.
In order to best equip you for activism, PCIC will be hosting our first in a series of advocacy information and empowerment calls that can be accessed live via telephone. This call will explain the legislative process and effective ways to educate legislators and staff about HB286.
Vaccine Choice Advocates can listen in THIS THURSDAY, FEB. 7 at 7:00pm.
Simply call 605-313-4165
Enter pin 545687
If you have a question that you would like the PCIC leadership team to address during the call, please email it to us at InformedConsent2015@gmail.com.
This work is too urgent to put off another day. So many legislators still have not even heard about the realities of vaccine risks and the discrimination against families who choose not to follow the CDC’s recommended schedule. If you don’t educate your legislator about this, there’s a chance that no one ever will.
Please join us on this important call! Together, we can effect change in Pennsylvania!