Sacramento, Calif., Sep 7, 2011 / 14:58 pm
California Gov. Jerry Brown should veto a bill allowing 12-year-olds to consent to STD vaccinations or treatment without their parents’ knowledge, bill opponents say. They warn that the bill violates parents’ rights and could give pharmaceutical companies $360 per child vaccinated, at taxpayer expense.
“This legislation is going to disenfranchise parents, and taxpayers are going to subsidize that disenfranchisement,” said Kevin Snider, lead attorney for the California-based Pacific Justice Institute.
The California Senate passed the bill on a 22-17 vote on Aug. 31.
Snider said his organization was “very disappointed” by the vote. He urged the state’s citizens to write Gov. Brown and highlight the costs of providing treatments to young people like the Merck corporation’s Gardasil HPV vaccine or the GlaxoSmithKline company’s Cervarix vaccine.