Advocacy

We Oppose Assembly bill A10372a

N.Y. State Health Committee passes two important bills

The NY Metro Chapter membership is very pleased that the N.Y. State Assembly Health Committee, under the leadership of Assemblyman Richard Gottfried has passed two important pieces of legislation.

The bill A880 seeks to strengthen the rule that a child is exempt from school vaccination requirements if the child's health care provider certifies that the vaccination could be harmful to the child, by requiring the school to accept the health care provider's judgment. (A880, Gottfried)

The bill A883 (Religious Objections to Vaccination) strengthens the parent's right to have a child exempted from vaccination based on religious belief, by prohibiting the school from rejecting the parent's affidavit of religious belief. (A883, Gottfried)

We are in touch with Assemblyman Richard Gottfried's office and as soon as these two bills are ready for vote in the full assembly, we will let our members know.

Meanwhile, the membership is encouraged to bring this to the attention of their assemblymen in Albany and seek support in sponsoring, co-sponsoring and by voting in favor when these bills are introduced in the assembly.

The Gardasil bill (S4779) was withdrawn from the committee

The N.Y. Senate bill S4779 (sponsored by Senator Liz Krueger) was withdrawn from being voted on in the Code Committee of the Senate due to the tremendous opposition expressed by our chapter members. The bill calls for young children ( boys and girls of any age) to be vaccinated with Gardasil vaccine without the knowledge and permission of their parents.

The autism community in particular and the NY State residents in general, voiced their grave concerns about the children being vaccinated by a school nurse while keeping the parents totally in the dark and not having to seek their permission. The bill in the senate (S4779) and the companion bill (A6702) in the assembly are not dead, yet and could be re-introduced again. We need to be vigilant and express our strong opposition to such bills that take away the rights of the children and their parents as to what is done to their bodies and their right to an informed consent.

NAA New York Metro Chapter President Testifies on Mandatory Vaccinations at a Public Hearing of the NY State Assembly- October 13, 2009

On October 13, 2009, NAA New York Metro Chapter Chapter President, Sabeeha Rehman, testified at the Public Hearing before representatives of the New York State Assembly with respect to safety concerns related to the H1N1 vaccine, and in opposition to mandatory vaccination of healthcare workers for both the H1N1 and seasonal flu vaccines....see blog for full report

Transcript of Testimony

NAA New York Metro Rallies Against Forced Vaccinations - September 29, 2009

For Rally description visit our blog
Photo Album of the rally

Rally For Vaccine Freedom - June 2nd, 2009, Albany , NY

10:30 AM
Legislative Office Bldg, State Street
Go to www.mykidsmychoice.com for the day's agenda/ signage & details

Autism Epidemic Day! - Tuesday, March 24th, 2009 In Albany!

For details on the event, visit our blog

President of NAA-New York Metro Chapter Meets with Assemblymember Brian Kavanagh

Sabeeha Rehman met with Assemblyman Brian Kavanagh on Friday, February 27 to ask for support on the following issues:
1. Oppose budget cuts for Early Intervention
2. Support medical insurance coverage for autism
3. Support Bill A880/S2339 - Medical Exemption from Vaccines
4. Support Bill A883/S2338 - Religious Exemption from Vaccines
5. Support Bill A4886/S2337 - Philosophical Exemption from Vaccines

These issues will raised again at the Autism Epidemic rally in Albany on March 24, 2009.

Compact Flourescent Lightbulbs (CFLs) and Mercury Toxicity

NAA-NYM has urged the City Councilman to take a leadership role at the Council and State level to address the issue of mercury toxicity related to CFLs. Each bulb has small amount (4mg) of mercury, which raises the issue of disposal and breakage of CFLs, particularly in homes with young children. NAA-NYM has urged that (1) efforts be made to educated citizens about handling breakage of CFLs, (2) urge the lighting industry to provide consumers with a foolproof way to prevent household exposure from broken CFLs or provide safer 'green' alternatives, (3) government mandates to re-design CFLs without mercury; (4) manufacturing of breakage-resistant bulbs; and (5) awareness of additional green energy sources, such as LED lights.
For full text of the letter, click here.

New York State Assembly Bills - call for support

There are two bills in the New York State Assembly that are making their way from the health committee to the floor of the assembly. The bill A00883 calls for giving the parents the right to refuse vaccination if it is in conflict with their religious beliefs. The other bill, A00880 prohibits the administrative authorities to second guess the judgment of the medical authority such as the child's physician or nurse practitioner regarding the decision to vaccinate or not to vaccinate. The full text of the bills is available on the "Quick bill search" column on the home page of the New York State Assembly website: http://assembly.state.ny.us/

Both the bills have been reported out of the health committee on 01/22/2009 and have been referred for the third reading on the same date. You are encouraged to call the office of your N.Y. State Assembly person and ask them to support these bills when these come up for vote. If you do not know your assembly person, you can find out by entering your address and zip code: http://nymap.elections.state.ny.us/nysboe/

Support for Philosophical Exemption;

Oppose Mandating All Vaccines Recommended by the CDC

On June 9, NAA NY Metro chapter reached out to its community, asking that people call their New York State legislators to oppose the bill mandating all vaccines recommended by the CDC (A10942); and request passage of the bill that would give individuals a right to a philosophical exemption from vaccine mandates (A5468/S3031). It was also requested that the President of the Senate be called, asking not to draft a companion bill to Assembly Bill A10942. Contact information for the legislators was provided, as well as suggested talking points.

Support for Capacity Assessment & Service Delivery Needs - OMMRD

On June 11, upon request from the NYS Minority Council's office, the NAA NY Metro, in collaboration with NAA, provided its position on Assembly Bill 11275. The bill call for the commissioner of the office of mental retardation and developmental disabilities to report to the legislature regarding services to persons with autism spectrum disorder, on the OMRDD's current capabilities and future service delivery needs for person with autism. It requires the report to be submitted to the legislature within one year of the effective date, and is effective immediately.

The following was presented as NAA position:

"We support this bill and are pleased to know that an initiative is being undertaken to address capacity issues within the OMRRD. However, we believe that one year is too long a period for this assessment. As the need is so urgent, we believe the initiative should be fast-tracked. We would also like to see a collaborative effort in the development of this report with associations such as the National Autism Association and similar advocacy groups, who should be consulted in the capacity assessment in outlining future service delivery needs.

We hope that this bill sets a precedent for other departments that provide services for persons with autism. Since autism is a spectrum of disorders that can include mental retardation and developmental limitations, we would like to see a similar bill introduced for the Department of Education to address the range of capacity issues in the education system."

What's Happening

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NY State Assembly contact information

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