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A group of parents is suing the District of Columbia over a law that allows children to be vaccinated without parental consent or knowledge.
Quick Facts
According to the Minor Consent for Vaccinations Amendment Act, passed in December 2020, children as young as 11 are allowed to receive vaccinations even if their parent has expressly stated that this violates their religious beliefs.
Not only are children able to receive vaccines without parental consent, but vaccines can also be administered without parental knowledge. The law instructs schools and healthcare professionals to hide the vaccination from parents, and insurance companies are also barred by the law from informing parents. The act requires “a physician to submit the immunization record directly to the minor’s school if the parent is utilizing a religious exemption” to opt out of receiving the Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine or other vaccines.
The law states, “Insurers shall not send an Explanation of Benefits for services provided under the authority of this subsection.” It adds, “A minor who receives services provided under the authority of this subsection shall have access to the minor’s immunization records without parental consent.”
The law also requires that the child’s immunization record be left blank of any vaccinations administered without the parent’s consent and that any actual vaccination records received from the child’s health provider not be shared with the parent.
The provision directly conflicts with the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act of 1986, which requires that parents are provided information and records on vaccinations.
A group of parents have filed suit against D.C., arguing,
“The Minor Consent Act subverts the right and duty of parents to make informed decisions about whether their children should receive vaccinations, by both depriving them of the opportunity to make those decisions and by concealing from parents that their children have been asked to consent to vaccinations or may have indeed been vaccinated.”
The lawsuit notes that when the D.C. Council discussed the law, Council Member Trayvon White raised these exact concerns when he said,
“…for me, it’s not an issue of the vaccinations. It’s an issue of the Council voting to circumvent the inclusion of a parent making the decision about their child. And the floor is an eleven year old child. I have a twelve-year old son who can barely put together a five-page paper, or finish his homework on time, or be up late at night playing Fortnite—making decisions about his health. And so for us to circumvent that process is very worrisome for me, and that’s why I stand as relates to this legislation, as we attempt to use the law to remove parental involvement as relates to important decisions made by a minor as young as eleven years old.”
Despite this objection, the Council approved the law 12-1. In D.C., the bill automatically became law when Mayor Muriel Bowser chose not to sign or veto it in a certain period of time.
This law is intentionally constructed to circumvent parental rights and authority, forcing medical professionals and insurance companies to engage in a cover-up to hide vital medical information from parents.
Parents are responsible for their child’s well-being, and at a time when Americans are being pushed to receive vaccines they may not be comfortable with, it is critical that parents are informed and be allowed to make medical decisions for their child.
What happens if a child has a reaction to a vaccine and the parent is unaware their child has even received a vaccine? Or perhaps the parent later changes their mind and wants the child to be vaccinated and is unaware the child has already been vaccinated? These are critical questions that go to the heart of a child’s well-being and a parent’s ability to adequately care for and safeguard their child.
Unfortunately, the legislators who proposed and voted for this egregious and immoral law care nothing about the health and well-being of children. This was a power grab, plain and simple, that is intended to further undermine the authority and rights of parents.
Hopefully, a court will put this right and put it right quickly — before any children and families are further harmed.
