INFLUENCING LEGISLATION AND ELECTIONS

To find your Colorado Representative and Senator go here: http://leg.colorado.gov/find-my-legislator.

Provide them information from our downloadable sheets. Inform your lawmakers of your concerns with vaccines, and ask them if they support Coloradans’ right to make decisions about the vaccine schedule for their children.

You may already be aware of the national sweep to eradicate Americans’ right to informed consent for vaccinations. Bills are on the table in most states now that will reduce citizens’ rights to refuse or delay vaccinations. There are bills to force adult immunizations in many occupations, as well as laws for procedure to track the vaccine status of all citizens. Concerned citizens need to act in order to preserve the right to govern our own bodies, make medical choices for our own children, and maintain privacy in our medical choices.

Since 2014, CHCA has effectively worked along side with representatives from the National Vaccination Information Center (NVIC.org) to maintain pressure on our state legislators and health department (CDPHE) to support parents’ authority in vaccine decisions. The organizations who are lobbying for these bills that attempt to restrict vaccine exemptions are well funded, and even their “grassroots” groups are hired hands. But we have established our presence at the Colorado Capitol. No amount of money can buy the passion of mothers who have seen their child suffer injury from a vaccine, nor the fervor of health care workers who are forced to endure injections to keep their jobs, nor the conviction of the natural health community who has done the research and knows the real risks, nor the spirit of healthiest state in the nation!

We ask you to join us to fight this good and noble fight. During the legislation sessions which run from January through May each year, CHCA works arm-in-arm with NVIC to send out alerts on bills that are introduced. The alerts provide bill information and contact information to our supporters who are directed to contact lawmakers and express their concerns. We also encourage supporters to attend committee testimony on bills. After the session, we transition to elections from June to November. We are a non-partisan group, but we encourage supporters to vet their districts’ candidates on their position on vaccines. We also encourage our supporters to educate lawmakers and candidates on the current 70-dose vaccine schedule, and real risks of vaccines.

To find out who is running for election in Colorado, go to http://www.sos.state.co.us/pubs/elections/vote/primaryCandidates.html for a candidate list with website links. Elections matter. Currently, the Democratic Party in Colorado votes as a party to limit or hinder vaccine exemption rights, with a few exceptions. The Republican Party as a party votes to support parental rights and privacy in vaccine choices, with a few exceptions.

In summary, protecting vaccine exemption rights requires the public to get involved by educating lawmakers and influencing elections in each state district.