Three bills before the New Jersey legislature deal with vaccine rights.A1368 would allow conscientious exemptions to mandatory immunizations (a conscientious exemption is defined as a “sincerely held or moral objection” to vaccination). A920 would exempt a child under age 6 from receiving the hepatitis B vaccine if the child’s mother tested negative for hepatitis B during her pregnancy. Tell your legislators to support both of these excellent bills.S1759 would restrict the religious exemption for vaccines: it would require a doctor’s note plus a sworn affidavit that it is a “bona fide” religious belief. Tell your legislators to oppose this bill, as states should not interfere in personal choices and beliefs when it comes to vaccines.

Two bills before the New York legislature deal with vaccine rights.A20267 adds the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine to the list of vaccines required for school, despite the fact that its actual effectiveness is unknown—at best it may protect against only two of the fifteen cancer-causing strains of the virus—and the side effects and reactions from the vaccine are sometimes severe.AB497 allows minors to consent to receiving the HPV vaccine without parental consent. States shouldn’t get in the way of family decisions—this is just a way of back-dooring the vaccination.

Two bills before the Vermont legislature deal with vaccine rights.HB114 would require a pertussis vaccination for teachers and childcare workers. The vaccination contains the pertussis toxin that, although it is at a low dose and in a purer form than it was several years ago, can still cause brain inflammation and a severe systemic inflammatory reaction.HB138 would nullify the philosophical exemption for mandatory vaccinations if the number of those unvaccinated falls below 90%. Tell your legislators to oppose both these bills.

A bill before the Virginia legislature deals with vaccine rights.HB1614 requires that boys receive the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine. It is outrageous that this vaccine has been mandated for girls in some states. To mandate it for boys is no less outrageous. The vaccine will have no effect on 87% of the HPV viruses that might potentially cause cancer, and the causal link between HPV and cervical cancer is far from definitive.Tell your legislators to OPPOSE this bill.