HB 2276 Immunization; immunization of children against COVID-19 Informed consent is the basis of medical ethics. Parents should make decisions regarding the health and wellbeing of their children. COVID-19 vaccines do not prevent viral transmission so there is no justification for requiring these vaccines as a requirement for school attendance. This bill specifies that parents shall not be required to immunize their children against COVID-19 in the same manner current Virginia law allows them to determine whether to give them the Haemophilus Influenzae Type b vaccine. In 2020, when the legislature considered and passed HB 1090, which dealt with the manner in which future childhood vaccines would be considered, legislators and their experts confirmed the legislature’s support for keeping parents in charge of their child’s vaccination schedule. In 2021, the Virginia Department of Health proposed a regulation requiring the COVID-19 vaccine as a requirement for school attendance. More than 15,000 Virginians commented on the regulation, with overwhelming opposition (93%) to mandating the shot. Medical professionals around the world are in agreement that there is no scientific rationale for continuing any COVID-19 mandates in 2023 and beyond. HB 2280 Parental consent to surgical and medical treatment of certain minors This bill requires parents and guardians to consent to medical interventions concerning their children, including vaccination. It is important to amend current law to make it clear that parents are in control and make medical decisions for their children. Several cities have attempted to pass orders and laws that allow children as young as 11 years of age to consent to vaccination without parental knowledge! Please do not let this happen in Virginia. Please support this bill to send a clear message that in Virginia, parents are in control and they decide what medical interventions their children receive.

After 7 am meeting, then this one. HB 1689 - Please move to report. No one should die without benefit of spiritual help. *HB 1864 - No person should be required to input into their bodies something they don't want there, just to keep their job. We're not North Korea. *HB 1889 - Data shows that they are not at great risk of disease. HB 2057 - Why should people who have worked and paid thousands of dollars for decades, by denied Social Security because those who violated the law came here? Why shouldn't we put infrastructure and improve schools for African American communities FIRST BEFORE any others? Why do they deserve any thing before our veterans? Please PBI this bill. HB 2160 - In honor of those who lost family/friends & weren't allowed to see them at the end, please move to report. HB 2276 - The data is clear: children are not at risk of death from COVID. HB 2293 - https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaths/articles/comparingdifferentinternationalmeasuresofexcessmortality/2022-12-20 Sweden and Norway were essentially tied for the lowest “[p]roportional all-cause excess-mortality scores” (which “measure[] the percentage change in the number of deaths compared to the expected number of deaths (based on the five-year average [from 2015 to 2019])” among the listed European countries, looking at data from Jan. 2020 to June 2022: Their excess mortality was up 2.7%, compared to, say, 5.2% for Denmark, 7.1% for Finland, and 11.8% for the Netherlands. They had the lowest all causes death rate since COVID arrived and didn't do these long, lengthy lockdowns. Sweden had lower rate avg. excess death percentages: https://reason.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/ERGExcessMortality.xlsx https://www.baconsrebellion.com/wp/covid-19-update-still-lots-of-idle-hospital-capacity/ noted on 4/25/2000 Roanoke Valley had 80 cases, 6 hospitalizations and 0 deaths compared to Arlington with 764 cases, 137 hospitalizations, 29 deaths. Elective surgery was banned in both, although the whole of Roanoke Valley had 0 deaths. HB2489 - Please move to report so that men can be given the support to become strong fathers.

HB 1689 - Please move to report. No one should die without benefit of spiritual help. *HB 1864 - No person should be required to input into their bodies something they don't want there, just to keep their job. We're not North Korea. *HB 1889 - Data shows that they are not at great risk of disease. HB 2057 - Why should people who have worked and paid thousands of dollars for decades, by denied Social Security because those who violated the law came here? Why shouldn't we put infrastructure and improve schools for African American communities FIRST BEFORE any others? Why do they deserve any thing before our veterans? Please PBI this bill. HB 2160 - In honor of those who lost family/friends & weren't allowed to see them at the end, please move to report. HB 2276 - The data is clear: children are not at risk of death from COVID. HB 2293 - https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaths/articles/comparingdifferentinternationalmeasuresofexcessmortality/2022-12-20 Sweden and Norway were essentially tied for the lowest “[p]roportional all-cause excess-mortality scores” (which “measure[] the percentage change in the number of deaths compared to the expected number of deaths (based on the five-year average [from 2015 to 2019])” among the listed European countries, looking at data from Jan. 2020 to June 2022: Their excess mortality was up 2.7%, compared to, say, 5.2% for Denmark, 7.1% for Finland, and 11.8% for the Netherlands. They had the lowest all causes death rate since COVID arrived and didn't do these long, lengthy lockdowns. Sweden had lower rate avg. excess death percentages: https://reason.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/ERGExcessMortality.xlsx https://www.baconsrebellion.com/wp/covid-19-update-still-lots-of-idle-hospital-capacity/ noted on 4/25/2000 Roanoke Valley had 80 cases, 6 hospitalizations and 0 deaths compared to Arlington with 764 cases, 137 hospitalizations, 29 deaths. Elective surgery was banned in both, although the whole of Roanoke Valley had 0 deaths. HB2489 - Please move to report so that men can be given the support to become strong fathers.

In May 2020, I was admitted to the ER for kidney stones. Due to the pandemic, my husband was not allowed to be with me. During the ER stay, I was given an overdose of Fentanyl and was revived with NARCAN. The following day, I was transferred to a hospital for surgery to remove the stones as they were blocking my kidney and another was lodged in my urethra. I am a Roman Catholic. I was slated to undergo surgery with full anesthesia to remove the stones. As such, I am entitled under Canon Law to receive the Anointing of the Sick. The Anointing of the Sick is not intended solely for those "at the brink" of death or with "one foot in the grave," but is instead a Healing Sacrament, intended to not just prepare the Faithful for death but to petition God for Healing if that is His Will. I asked the hospital to contact a local priest to attend to my spiritual needs. The "chaplain" (a woman named Deb) informed me that "no priest will come for you." She stated that since I was not actively dying as a priest would not come due to COVID-19. I asked if this was hospital policy. She said yes and that even if it wasn't, "no priest will come for you." (not true). I argued with her for nearly an hour, in severe pain (taking morphine), and finally, she agreed that if I could find a priest they would allow me to go to the lobby. I did have a priest. He did come. He had to wait in the lobby while I was disconnected from machines, wrapped in blankets, and wheeled into the lobby, still in severe pain. He performed the Anointing and the Sacrament was completed. It was a risk to wheel me into a lobby instead of allowing Father to come to me. It was later discovered that I had the beginning of sepsis and was, in fact, in mortal danger. Had the "chaplain" had her way, I could have died having been denied my final Sacrament. In attempting to contact a Priest, my husband had received feedback from one Pastor that "the hospital would not let them in." It was only a Priest that I had a years-long working relationship with that was willing to take the risk of the hospital denying him entry. I am available for further elaboration and comment if desired.

To deny people access to their faith leaders during the last moments of their life is cruel and inhumane treatment. Faith leaders are perfectly capable of taking the same precautions as the medical staff caring for the patient and medical facilities and the state health department should not be allowed to interfere in the free exercise of religion. For people of faith having their rabbi, shamen, priest, or pastor be able to visit them is as important, if not more so, than the care they are receiving from medical staff. The moment a doctor or nurse is allowed in the room with the patient then there is no justification for interfering in the religious practices of the sick and dying by banning faith leaders from the room and the code of law in VA should make this clear so that there is no question on this should another health pandemic or other health emergency come to VA. Please bring this bill to a vote in committee and then to the full House of Delegates so that it can become law and make it clear how in thesensituations, the rights of the people in VA will be protected and respected.

This bill needs to be brought up for a vote before both the House and the Senate. It was absolutely outrageous how people's most basic religious rights were completely destroyed during the Covid madness imposed upon Virginia. This can NEVER happen again. And legislators need to go on the record regarding this issue--which means a roll-call vote. Make it happen.

I am a pediatric physical therapist in Virginia and support HB1809 to expand Newborn Screening. Newborn Screening looks for serious developmental, genetic, and metabolic disorders that would not otherwise be detected in time for life-altering treatment. For these disorders, early detection and treatment is essential to preventing irreversible mental or physical disabilities, even death. For diseases like Krabbe and ALD, early detection through newborn screening is crucial for affected children to receive potentially lifesaving treatment, which is only effective if administered before a child is symptomatic. Krabbe Disease is a severe and fatal disease that occurs in 1 in 100,000 births. Babies with Infantile Krabbe disease can be identified through newborn screening assess that utilize a combination of GALC enzyme level and the biomarker psychosine. Treatment of babies with infantile Krabbe Disease has the best outcomes if delivered in the first month of life. Help ensure that the children in our state are screened at birth for Krabbe and similar diseases by passing HB1809. Thank you!

Comments Document

Honorable Delegates of the Health Welfare and Institutions Committee, Greetings to you and attached please find continued, detailed AAC support memo for HB1969, which will restore unrestricted access to original birth certificates for all Virginia adult adopted persons. We are very happy to be working alongside our partner advocates at the Capitol Coalition for Adoptee Rights (CCAR) to advance this vital human and civil rights imperative. Hope this helps, with tremendous thanks for all efforts to advance adoptee equality in The Old Dominion State. Regards, Tim. Tim Monti-Wohlpart tmw713@gmail.com 917-403-8105 American Adoption Congress, National Legislative Chair

I support Virginia HB1969 and ask each of you to do the same. Adopted persons in Virginia should not be discriminated against and treated as a separate class of citizen. They deserve the same unrestricted rights to their birth certificate as every other person born in the state of Virginia. As the law currently stands adult adopted persons are the only citizens of the Common Wealth of Virginia who have no legal right to the personal vital statistic record documenting their birth. At this time the release of an original birth record to an adult adopted person requires either a state agency’s decision to release identifying information upon good cause shown; or a court order upon good cause shown. The onus is on the adopted person to prove they deserve access to their own birth certificate. The current law is ridiculously difficult, complicated and can come at great monetary expense to the adopted person. Rather than paying the typical $20 fee, adopted persons must hire lawyers, go to court, etc., without knowing if the time and expense they have spent will successfully allow them to obtain their own birth certificate. Please do not continue to allow adopted people born in Virginia to be discriminated against.

CHSVA supports this bill. Adoptees should be afforded the same rights and have access to the same documents as their peers. Currently, these adoptees have to obtain a court order to access their own birth certificate. They should not have to go through the expense and complexities of the judicial system to obtain documentation pertaining to their own identity. We ask that you support this bill.

Comments Document

Honorable Delegates of the Health Welfare and Institutions Subcommittee, Greetings to you and attached please find a new, further detailed AAC support memo for HB1969, which will restore unrestricted access to original birth certificates for all Virginia adult adopted persons. We are very happy to be working alongside our partner advocates at the Capitol Coalition for Adoptee Rights (CCAR) to advance this vital human and civil rights imperative. Hope this helps, with tremendous thanks for all efforts to advance adoptee equality in The Old Dominion State. Regards, Tim. Tim Monti-Wohlpart tmw713@gmail.com 917-403-8105 American Adoption Congress, National Legislative Chair

I am 100% behind this clean bill allowing adoptees be allowed to their OBC. These antiquated laws need to be enhanced to meet todays needs of ALL citizens including adoptees. DNA now leads the way and biological parents can easily be found. Technology has advanced and what a great way for Virginia to advance too When a state values all its citizens with equal opportunity vs oppression the masses will be happier and thrive. Good luck Virginia adoptees from a fellow adoptee in Oregon. With much support and in favor of this Bill 1969. Ann E Weaver-Melendy

Dear Honorable Delegates, I fully support Virginia HB1969 and advocate for unrestricted access to original birth certificates to all Virginia born adoptees. Adult adoptees deserve the same rights to their birth records as any other person born in our commonwealth. Unlike other Virginians, adoptees cannot research medical history and familial disease patterns. Please abolish paternalistic, antiquated policies that prevent an adoptee from knowing essential facts about their own identity. Make the Commonwealth of Virginia more transparent and equitable by supporting adoptees’ access to birth records.

I was born and adopted in northern Virginia in 1961. I am writing in favor of Virginia HB1969. I am in Reunion with my elderly birth mother and have established family ties with my paternal side too. This bill would help put the Baby Scoop era of adoption in the past and create a brighter future for many adult adoptees who are needlessly kept in the dark about basic facts about our own life beginnings. What is more basic or fundamental than knowing the identity of your biological parents? They were never promised anonymity anyway. The search process can be more direct without involving cousins who are DNA matches, the typical sleuthing process that adult adoptees now go through, without OBC access.

Dear Honorable Delegates, I fully support Virginia HB1969 and implore each of you to do the same. As the law currently stands adult adopted persons are the only citizens of the State of Virginia who have no legal right to the personal vital statistic record documenting their birth. At this time the release of an original birth record to an adult adopted person requires either a state agency’s decision to release identifying information upon good cause shown; or a court order upon good cause shown. The onus is on the adopted person to prove they deserve access to their own birth certificate. Please restore unrestricted access to original birth certificates to all Virginia born adoptees. They deserve the same rights to their birth certificates as every other person born in the state of Virginia. Adopted persons should not be discrimated against and treated as a separate class of citizens.

My name Tonya Moore who found out I was adopted at the age of 31 years old. That was devastating for me. So when I went to obtain my birth records to only find out that was not possible was even worst for me. I could only get my non identifying information. I started grieving over records that I couldn't obtained. I believe everyone should access to their birth records. Access will help.put pieces together especially when it comes to medical issues. I am now 51 years old and have no idea about my family medical history. In speaking with doctors to onlly say " I am adopted " It's hard feeling different from others and fighting for your identity every day.

My name is Jamie Weiss, however that has not always been who I am. In February of 1979, I was born. Where, to whom, and when?? Well, that’s a great question that I could not answer for 30 years. After being adopted at 6 months old, my original birth certificate, that recorded the facts of my birth was taken from me and replaced with a falsified birth certificate - listing a different name, a different mother, a different father, a different city of birth, and even a completely different state! As an adult, I thought that I would be allowed to obtain my birth records. Sadly I learned that I could not, due to the law requiring that my own birth certificate be sealed away and kept from me. This was done solely due to the fact that I was adopted. It was not done at the request of myself or my birth mother. Neither of us would have chosen for my birth certificate to be sealed. In fact, it was my birth mother who was able to provide me with the information about myself that I did not know, once I was able to connect with her. So at 30 years old, I learned that Jamie from Georgia is actually Hope from Virginia. If a birth certificate is such a “vital” record, then why am I denied access to mine? I am not a child. I am not dangerous. I am not a criminal. I am a wife, a mother, a caregiver, a neighbor, an entrepreneur, a daughter, a sister. No one is harmed by me knowing the truth about ME! Non-adopted persons can obtain their birth certificate by going online or in person, completing a request form, and paying the $12 fee. It is that simple. In contrast, adopted persons who wish to obtain theirs are forced into an arduous and arbitrary process to petition the court and spend thousands of dollars to gamble for a chance at being granted access by a judge. Solely due to the fact that they were adopted and no other reason. Virginia HB1969 will give adult adopted persons the unrestricted right to obtain their own original birth certificate and it is essential to ensuring dignity and equality for all. This is a basic right that all other groups of people have except adopted persons. It is time for that to change. I am asking that all members of the subcommittee will support HB1969 and provide a favorable report.

Comments Document

Dear members of the Subcommittee, Attached is my letter of support for a favorable report for HB1969. Thank you for your consideration . Respectfully, Susie Stricker Maryland Adoptee Rights, Director Capitol Coalition for Adoptee Rights

Comments Document

Virginia Delegate Wendell S. Walker Chair of the Health, Welfare and Institutions Sub-Committee Pocahontas Building, Room E304 900 East Main Street Richmond, VA 23219 January 18, 2023 Dear Chairman Walker and Members of the Subcommittee: I write on behalf of the New York Adoptee Rights Coalition (NYARC) regarding Virginia’s HB1969. New York State recently enacted bipartisan legislation that secured—like HB1969 would secure—the right of adult adopted people to obtain certified copies of their own original birth certificates (OBC). NYARC was instrumental in securing this right. Adult adoptees are the only group of people who are denied access to the state’s original record of their birth. We are denied this document not because we were relinquished or because our parent(s) had their rights terminated for just cause; but because we were adopted. OBCs are only changed and sealed upon adoption. This fact is true regardless of what year we were adopted. This is true in infant, step-parent, intercountry, and foster care adoptions. Had a person not been adopted but, instead, aged out of the foster care system their name and birth certificate would never have been changed. Critical to note is that every child in foster care, like adoptees, was also relinquished or their parent(s) had their rights terminated for just cause. Obtaining one’s OBC is about dignity and equality. It is not about searching for one’s biological family. Adopted adults do not need a record of their births to locate family. They need only spit in a vial or swab their cheek. I, personally, have helped upwards of 200 people locate their biological families using consumer DNA testing and public records. The people I have helped range in age from 21 to 83. In the technological world of social media and consumer DNA testing, I assure you that the idea of anonymity for anyone is impossible. There are approximately six million adopted people in the United States. We are your neighbors, friends, and family members. We represent first responders, teachers, military, union workers, corporate professionals, and even legislators. We represent every religion, political party, sexual orientation and gender. Imagine if Virginia’s current law stated that military personnel/first responders/teachers/LBGTQ/etc., must secure a court order or approval from a state agency in order to access their original birth certificate. Virginians would never stand for such discrimination. We ask that you not stand for it either. It is our hope that Virginia will, like New York, allow ALL adults born in the state to be able to apply for and receive a copy of their original birth certificate without restrictions or court orders. We hope that you will join New York and the 12 other states (Alaska, Alabama, Colorado, Connecticut, Kansas, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Louisiana, Oregon, and Rhode Island) who allow for complete adoptee equality. Vermont will soon become the 13th state. You have the potential to get it right and make it equal in Virginia. It is our hope that you make history happen in your great state, just as we did in New York, Make Virginia the 14th state to restore an adopted adult’s right to their own birth record. We ask for a favorable subcommittee report for HB1969. Respectfully, Annette O’Connell Spokesperson - New York Adoptee Rights Coalition 845-821-4303 coalition@nyadopteerights.org

Comments Document

TO: Delegates of the Virginia House Health, Welfare, and Institutions Sub Committee FROM: Marley E Greiner, Executive Chair, Bastard Nation: the Adoptee Rights Organization RE: Please support HB 1969, Adoptee Original Birth Certificates DATE: January 18, 2023 Honorable Delegates of the Health Welfare and Institutions Subcommittee: Attached please find our written comments in support of HB 1969, a bill to restore the right of all Virginia-born adoptees to their original birth certificates without restrictions or conditions. I am happy to discuss any questions or concerns you have about this bill. (614-795-6819 (cell) or 361-452-1391 (unlisted, but better due to spam)

Comments Document

Please consider the attached letter and materials in support of a favorable report on HB1969, a bill whose chief patron is Del. Walker. Gregory Luce Adoptee Rights Law Center

HB1969 Adult Adoptee Access to their own Original Birth Certificate I am Rebecca Ricardo – an adopted person, a birth mother who placed a child for adoption and a Licensed Clinical Social Worker currently serving as the Executive Director for C2Adopt – a Richmond based adoption agency. I support this bill personally and I can speak on behalf of C2Adopt that the agency also supports this bill. A person who was adopted as a minor child should have equal access to the government documentation of their birth as all other adult citizens of the Commonwealth have access to upon the age of majority. We should not have a lessor citizen status in regards to the document as important as the verification of our birth information. This is an equality issue that needs to be updated and changed. Thirteen other states have already taken this action to provide adult adoptees access to this document. Please make Virginia the next state to enact this critical change to our Code of Virginia. Thank you. Rebecca L. Ricardo, LCSW Executive Director – C2Adopt rricardo@c2adopt.org or rebeccaricardo65@gmail.com 804-360-0920 Resident of Virginia residing in Goochland County

Honorable Delegates, I was born in Virginia and adopted as an infant in 1979. As this was in the era of closed adoptions, my original birth certificate (OBC) was sealed. Many people who were not adopted do not realize that people in my situation have no legal right to view their OBC. The most we are allowed is a copy of non-identifying information with all names redacted. It is my position that adult adoptees have a right to know the names of their birth parents. There are many genetic diseases that doctors cannot screen for without knowing a medical history. Adopted people without access to the names of any blood relatives are stuck in a situation where they could be denied essential medical care - this is unnecessary. I have personally met many adoptees in their 80s and 90s whose only hope in life is to meet just one blood relative before they die. Due to the secrecy built into state laws like Virginia's, their search efforts are often unsuccessful. Please support HB1969. Thank you, Joseph Hamelman

Comments Document

Greetings to you and attached please find an AAC support memo for HB1969, which will restore unrestricted access to original birth certificates for all Virginia adult adopted persons. We are very happy to be working alongside our partner advocates at the Capitol Coalition for Adoptee Rights (CCAR) to advance this vital human and civil rights imperative. Hope this helps, with tremendous thanks for all efforts to advance adoptee equality in the Old Dominion State. Regards, Tim. Tim Monti-Wohlpart tmw713@gmail.com 917-403-8105 American Adoption Congress, National Legislative Chair

Opposed HB 2183 In the book "Outlier" by Maxwell Gladwell, it takes at least 10,000 hours to be excellent at what you do. Patients deserve the best. Five years should remain for NPs. Any clinician who is responsible for independently caring for patients needs to see the most expansive scope of complex cases possible. After medical school, a physician resident completes on average anywhere from 12,000 to 15,000 hours of supervised patient care before practicing autonomously. Conversely, some NP programs are entirely online, and some can be completed in as few as 2 years. Upon graduation of such a program, were HB 2183 to pass, a NP would be able to see patients entirely on their own after completing only 800 hours of clinical training as an NP.

We will speak to what the HVIP does in broad terms and its importance in reducing crimes and retaliation/ hospital reentry in the community. This bill would help to keep HVIPs sustainable in the Commonwealth, instead of relying on state grants.

HB 2276 Immunization; immunization of children against COVID-19 Informed consent is the basis of medical ethics. Parents should make decisions regarding the health and wellbeing of their children. COVID-19 vaccines do not prevent viral transmission so there is no justification for requiring these vaccines as a requirement for school attendance. This bill specifies that parents shall not be required to immunize their children against COVID-19 in the same manner current Virginia law allows them to determine whether to give them the Haemophilus Influenzae Type b vaccine. In 2020, when the legislature considered and passed HB 1090, which dealt with the manner in which future childhood vaccines would be considered, legislators and their experts confirmed the legislature’s support for keeping parents in charge of their child’s vaccination schedule. In 2021, the Virginia Department of Health proposed a regulation requiring the COVID-19 vaccine as a requirement for school attendance. More than 15,000 Virginians commented on the regulation, with overwhelming opposition (93%) to mandating the shot. Medical professionals around the world are in agreement that there is no scientific rationale for continuing any COVID-19 mandates in 2023 and beyond. HB 2280 Parental consent to surgical and medical treatment of certain minors This bill requires parents and guardians to consent to medical interventions concerning their children, including vaccination. It is important to amend current law to make it clear that parents are in control and make medical decisions for their children. Several cities have attempted to pass orders and laws that allow children as young as 11 years of age to consent to vaccination without parental knowledge! Please do not let this happen in Virginia. Please support this bill to send a clear message that in Virginia, parents are in control and they decide what medical interventions their children receive.

HB 2276 Immunization; immunization of children against COVID-19 Informed consent is the basis of medical ethics. Parents should make decisions regarding the health and wellbeing of their children. COVID-19 vaccines do not prevent viral transmission so there is no justification for requiring these vaccines as a requirement for school attendance. This bill specifies that parents shall not be required to immunize their children against COVID-19 in the same manner current Virginia law allows them to determine whether to give them the Haemophilus Influenzae Type b vaccine. In 2020, when the legislature considered and passed HB 1090, which dealt with the manner in which future childhood vaccines would be considered, legislators and their experts confirmed the legislature’s support for keeping parents in charge of their child’s vaccination schedule. In 2021, the Virginia Department of Health proposed a regulation requiring the COVID-19 vaccine as a requirement for school attendance. More than 15,000 Virginians commented on the regulation, with overwhelming opposition (93%) to mandating the shot. Medical professionals around the world are in agreement that there is no scientific rationale for continuing any COVID-19 mandates in 2023 and beyond. HB 2280 Parental consent to surgical and medical treatment of certain minors This bill requires parents and guardians to consent to medical interventions concerning their children, including vaccination. It is important to amend current law to make it clear that parents are in control and make medical decisions for their children. Several cities have attempted to pass orders and laws that allow children as young as 11 years of age to consent to vaccination without parental knowledge! Please do not let this happen in Virginia. Please support this bill to send a clear message that in Virginia, parents are in control and they decide what medical interventions their children receive.

HB 2276 Immunization; immunization of children against COVID-19 Informed consent is the basis of medical ethics. Parents should make decisions regarding the health and wellbeing of their children. COVID-19 vaccines do not prevent viral transmission so there is no justification for requiring these vaccines as a requirement for school attendance. This bill specifies that parents shall not be required to immunize their children against COVID-19 in the same manner current Virginia law allows them to determine whether to give them the Haemophilus Influenzae Type b vaccine. In 2020, when the legislature considered and passed HB 1090, which dealt with the manner in which future childhood vaccines would be considered, legislators and their experts confirmed the legislature’s support for keeping parents in charge of their child’s vaccination schedule. In 2021, the Virginia Department of Health proposed a regulation requiring the COVID-19 vaccine as a requirement for school attendance. More than 15,000 Virginians commented on the regulation, with overwhelming opposition (93%) to mandating the shot. Medical professionals around the world are in agreement that there is no scientific rationale for continuing any COVID-19 mandates in 2023 and beyond. HB 2280 Parental consent to surgical and medical treatment of certain minors This bill requires parents and guardians to consent to medical interventions concerning their children, including vaccination. It is important to amend current law to make it clear that parents are in control and make medical decisions for their children. Several cities have attempted to pass orders and laws that allow children as young as 11 years of age to consent to vaccination without parental knowledge! Please do not let this happen in Virginia. Please support this bill to send a clear message that in Virginia, parents are in control and they decide what medical interventions their children receive.

Please support HB2287 and Vote YES. This will allow greater access to necessary medical treatment by certified registered nurse anesthetists.