Bill To Sneak In Vaccinations Without Parental Consent Taken Off Notice

Image Credit: capitol.tn.gov – SELF Magazine / CC

The Tennessee Conservative [By Jason Vaughn] –

In the last scheduled meeting this session for the House Health Committee, a caption bill that was snuck in under the radar with an amendment to push the HPV vaccine for minors was taken off notice by the bill sponsor.

The amended version of House Bill 0946 (HB0946) sought to authorize “certain healthcare officers and providers licensed in this state to provide consultation, examination, diagnosis or treatment to a minor to prevent STDs, without the knowledge or consent of the parents of the minors.”  This language is broad enough to include the HPV vaccine, HepB vaccines, and two risky drugs approved for adolescents and adults to be taken to prevent HIV.

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The House bill’s sponsor, Representative Bob Ramsey (R-Maryville-District 20), said “I regret that I was instructed by the party bringing this bill to me, the Tennessee Charitable Care Network… they requested that I take House Bill 0946 off notice.”

Ramsey went on to say, “The legislation was misrepresented and pulled into an anti-vaccine movement wrongly. We all need to be aware, including those working against the bill, that hundreds of young people will not be able to discuss preventative measures for STDs with healthcare professionals.”

With Ramsey’s statement concluding, Chair Bryan Terry (R-Murfreesboro-District 48) sounded the gavel, thereby officially taking the bill off notice.

House Bill 0946 and it’s Senate companion bill (SB0148), sponsored by Senator Richard Briggs (R-Knoxville-District 7), was originally submitted as a benign caption bill with the language “As introduced, establishes a deadline of January 1 for the submission of the annual plan of expenditures with relation to state grant-in-aid funds submitted by each county to the commissioner of health.”

Only in committee was the amendment brought forth that made the bill and completely altered its meaning.

In a recent interview with Senator Janice Bowling, she told the Tennessee Conservative “What they’ve done this year, that I’ve never noticed before, they’ve been putting forward a lot of caption bills and they do not ever even see the amendment until it’s being presented in committee.  The general public has no idea it’s coming.”

Bowling stated that many people found out about the bill late but, “Buddy, let me tell you, it made a difference when people started emailing and calling the legislators.”

She related that she spoke with House Health Committee chair, Bryan Terry stating that he said, “Jan, our phones blew up.  We’ve got to kill those bills.  We weren’t told parents wouldn’t have knowledge.”

Bowling issued a warning to Senators not to carry any bill they haven’t had the opportunity to read, “every line and every dot and every tiddle.”

She said, “It’s thanks to the people who called in and raised you know what about the very idea that the state would even consider another controversial vaccine with children under age and not give parental knowledge or consent.  So the people have won round one on that and we’re going to make sure up here those never get to the floor.” 

About the Author: Jason Vaughn, Media Coordinator for The Tennessee Conservative  ~ Jason previously worked for a legacy publishing company based in Crossville, TN in a variety of roles through his career.  Most recently, he served as Deputy Director for their flagship publication. Prior, he was a freelance journalist writing articles that appeared in the Herald Citizen, the Crossville Chronicle and The Oracle among others.  He graduated from Tennessee Technological University with a Bachelor’s in English-Journalism, with minors in Broadcast Journalism and History.  Contact Jason at news@TennesseeConservativeNews.com