Attention!! PCIC’s Legislative Team has been monitoring SB514 – Requiring Child Lead Testing, as it would replace 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 to opt out of this test. This bill will be discussed during second consideration within the Senate on Monday, June 19, 2023. We need your help to stop the mandate of a medical procedure here in Pennsylvania, so please contact your Senator by June 19th!

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, not all children are at risk for lead poisoning. With every test that is mandated, as opposed to encouraged, our medical freedom is eroded.

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 PCIC Legislation Team was successful in helping this bill get amended last session (SB522) in the House. Please help us this time by contacting your Senator and asking that your Senator OPPOSE SB514 as written.

Action Alert

Take 5 minutes of your day to let your Senator know that medical freedom and informed consent are important to YOU. To find your legislator, enter your address here and click “Search”. For PA state legislative activities, you’ll want to note your PA House and PA Senate representatives.

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. 
• A statement of parental religious beliefs has no place in a medical office. This sets a terrible precedent.
• This bill is unnecessary. It is already the standard of care to offer lead testing for children. A simple “parent declined” has always been sufficient for proper documentation in a medical record.
• 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.  
  
• 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.
• The AAP (American Academy of Pediatrics) allows pediatricians to “fire” their patients. We do not need another reason for children to be prevented from seeing a physician.

PCIC would support: expanded education opportunities for parents, as well as legislation to allow for parents to order the lead test without a physician’s order and to have that be covered by insurance. Parents do not need more mandates, which undermine parental rights and the rapport of the doctor-patient relationship. Rather, they need tools and information to make the best decisions for their children.