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Action Alert: Ask HHS Members to Vote No on SB514

Jun 4, 2023

Action Alert: Ask HHS Members to Vote No on SB514

Attention!! PCIC’s Legislative Committee have been monitoring SB514 – Requiring Child Lead Testing, since it was introduced as it is replacing the current lead testing legislation where it’s “encouraged” with a new “required” medical procedure for children. The change also includes a requirement to submit a written religious or philosophical exemption to your medical provider if you want to opt out of this test. This bill will be discussed during the Health and Human Services (HHS) Committee meeting on Tuesday, June 6, 2023 at 11am. We need your help to stop the mandate of a medical procedure here in Pennsylvania! (Livestream of the hearing can be viewed here, additional committee details including how to attend the meeting found here.).

PCIC wants to be very clear. Lead poisoning is a real and serious threat to children with risk factors. There are no safe levels of lead exposure, and it can be detrimental to anyone’s health, especially for a developing infant or child. However, lead poisoning is not a risk to all children. We cannot allow our legislators to continue to erode our medical freedoms.

For more information on risk factors, please visit here. You can also view the lead screening recommendations of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) here and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) recommends that pregnant and breastfeeding women only be tested if they present with one or more risk factors, as seen here.

Our Legislation Committee was successful in helping this bill to be amended last session (SB522) in the House. Please help us this time by contacting all members of the Senate Health & Human Services Committee and asking them to OPPOSE SB514 as written.

Action Alert

Take 10 minutes of your day for 11 brief phone calls, letting legislators know that medical freedom and informed consent are important to YOU. If you live in the district of any of these Senators, be sure to mention that when you call.

Request:
Hello Senator [Senator Last Name], my name is [Your Name} and I want you to vote NO on SB514, the bill that would require all children to be tested for lead. If you’d like to discuss I can be reached at [Your Number]. Thank you.

 

  1. Senator Michele Brooks | Phone: (717) 787-1322 | Fax: (717) 772-0577 | mbrooks@pasen.gov
  2. Senator Amanda Cappelletti | Phone: (717) 787-5544 | Fax: (717) 705-7741 | cappelletti@pasenate.com
  3. Senator Maria Collett | Phone: (717) 787-6599 | Fax: (717) 783-7328 | senatorcollett@pasenate.com
  4. Senator Frank Farry | Phone: (717) 787-5072 | Fax: (717) 772-2344 | FFarry@pasen.gov
  5. Senator Art Haywood | Phone: (717) 787-1427 | Fax: (717) 772-0572 | senatorhaywood@pasenate.com
  6. Senator Scott Hutchinson | Phone: (717) 787-9684 | Fax: (717) 787-6088 | shutchinson@pasen.gov
  7. Senator Lynda Schlegel-Culver | Phone: (717) 787-8928 | Fax: (717) 772-2344 | lculver@pasen.gov
  8. Senator Judy Schwank | Phone: (717) 787-8925 | Fax: (717) 772-0578 | SenatorSchwank@pasenate.com
  9. Senator Patrick Stefano | Phone: (717) 787-7175 | Fax: (717) 787-0195 | pstefano@pasen.gov
  10. Senator Judy Ward | Phone: (717) 787-5490 | Fax: (717) 783-5192 | jward@pasen.gov
  11. Senator Kim Ward | Phone: (717) 787-6063 | Fax: (717) 772-0580 | kward@pasen.gov
Further Talking Points Include: 
  • No medical test or procedure should be mandatory. Medical providers can give information on the benefits and risks of a procedure, but parents need to make decisions for their children – without coercion. 
  • This bill is unnecessary. It is already the standard of care to offer lead testing for children. 
  • There is a growing trend of mandating tests and procedures for minors. This usurps parental rights. It creates a culture of parents having a long “checklist” of things to do for the state, having to prove at every turn that they are doing what is required.  
  • Many times, even when there are exemptions to tests or procedures, parents are not given information about the exemptions. Sometimes, this information is omitted, and at worst, parents are wrongly told that exemptions are not available or that they do not qualify for an exemption. We have seen this with vaccinations and with other medical interventions and tests. 
  • Bills like this set providers up to attempt to have parents comply no matter what, undermining the trust and rapport of the doctor-patient relationship. 
  • Parents know their child best and know their child’s risk factors.
  • Parental religious rights have no place in a medical office and requiring written objection sets a terrible precedence.