California Lawmaker Introduces Bill to Allow Minors to Be Vaccinated without Parental Permission
Legislation recently proposed in California would allow children aged twelve and up to get vaccinated without parental consent.
Democratic state senator Scott Wiener pitched the bill as a means to empower young people to take their medical decisions into their own hands, Fox News first reported.
“Giving young people the autonomy to receive life-saving vaccines, regardless of their parents’ beliefs or work schedules, is essential for their physical and mental health,” he said. “It’s unconscionable for teens to be blocked from the vaccine because a parent either refuses or cannot take their child to a vaccination site.”
The age of consent for vaccination varies from state to state. Massachusetts requires written permission from a parent or legal guardian for the twelve to 17 age bracket. Other states make exceptions for immunizations for the Hepatitis B and Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccines and sexually transmitted diseases, such as Illinois and California, but require parental consent for all other vaccinations, including Covid-19.
Under Wiener’s bill, children aged twelve to 17 would be eligible to receive any vaccination that’s been approved by the FDA and CDC. The Pfizer/BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine received full approval by the FDA on August 23, 2021, while applications for the Moderna and Johnson & Johnson brands are still pending. As of early January, a CDC advisory panel recommended the Covid-19 booster for children ages twelve to 15.
Wiener said his bill addresses vaccine hesitancy and abstinence among young people generally, not just for the Covid-19 shot, as he believes it’s unfair that parents can obstruct a child’s right to protect themself from an infectious disease.
“This to me seems to be another example of Democrats wanting to remove parents from the equation,” said Republican Assemblyman James Gallagher. “I think that’s flawed policy. I think parents are vital to these decisions.”
He believes Wiener’s policy prescription would be unpopular among parents regardless of political affiliation, as it would erode their right to determine what’s best for their child who is still in their legal care.
“I think there will be bipartisan support for the proposition that parents should be involved in their kids’ health care decisions, in deciding what types of medical care and drugs they should be taking,” Gallagher said.
California’s pandemic response has been among the most stringent in the nation. In October, the state mandated vaccination as a condition of attending public school in-person. More sweeping than the teacher vaccine requirement in California, which allowed a testing option, the mandate for schoolchildren has no testing option, meaning that students who remain unvaccinated must attend class virtually. However, medical and religious exemptions submitted by parents on behalf of their kids are likely to delay implementation as they’re reviewed.
