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 The law, which makes California the third state to eliminate
religious and other personal exemptions to vaccinations, generated
vociferous opposition from some parents, many who feared a now
debunked link between childhood vaccinations and autism and others
who feared intrusion on the religious exemption.
"The science is clear that vaccines dramatically protect children
against a number of infectious and dangerous diseases," Brown, a
Democrat, wrote in his signing message. "While it's true that no
medical intervention is without risk, the evidence shows that
immunization powerfully benefits and protects the community."
Opponents, who had packed legislative hearings and targeted
lawmakers with advertisements, petitions and telephone campaigns,
reacted swiftly, some threatening lawsuits, despite a provision in
the law granting many parents with children in school or starting
soon years to comply.
"It is a tragic day for California and a tragic day for America,"
the group Californians for Vaccine Choice wrote on its Facebook
page. "A new battle will begin in the courts now."
In December, more than 100 people were sickened in a measles
outbreak traced to the Disneyland theme park in Southern California.
Epidemiologists linked the outbreak to vaccination rates, which have
dropped in parts of the state amid fears by some parents that
children will suffer side effects or develop autism if they comply
with recommended vaccines.
In California, higher use of the personal beliefs exemption to
excuse children from vaccination requirements tends to be clustered
in affluent, mostly liberal enclaves like Marin County and Santa
Monica, state data show.
In the legislature, the bill was opposed mostly by Republicans, who
disagreed with the provision that would eliminate parents' right to
opt out for religious reasons, although Republican leaders said they
had vaccinated their own children.
California, like other U.S. states, mandated vaccinations for school
children decades ago after it was shown that inoculation could
prevent such childhood scourges as polio, pertussis and measles. The
state allowed parents to opt out for personal or religious beliefs.
State Senator Richard Pan, a Democrat and a pediatrician, said the
measles outbreak led him to switch his top legislative priority for
this year from a new tobacco tax to a stringent vaccination
requirement for children in school.
"The opposition was very intense, and they engaged in questionable
tactics that increased the resolve of some of my colleagues to see
this through," the Sacramento lawmaker said.
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Pan, who received death threats during the fight over the bill, said
his colleagues and the governor stayed focused on the ultimate goal
of protecting childrens' health.
ABOUT-FACE FOR BROWN
Brown's decision to sign the bill marks an about-face for the former
seminarian who three years ago opposed eliminating the religious
exemption for school vaccines.
On Tuesday, opponents took out a full-page ad in the Sacramento Bee,
an influential newspaper in the state's capital, urging him to veto
the measure by invoking the argument that pharmaceutical companies
are behind the push to vaccinate children.
"Governor Brown, what do you stand for?" read the ad by a group
calling itself Concerned Mamas and Grandmas. "People or profits?"
The law allows parents to obtain medical waivers from vaccinations
for their children and allows doctors to consider family history
when granting them.
It gives many parents years to comply, grandfathering in all
personal beliefs exemptions filed before Jan. 1, 2016, until
children complete their "grade spans," defined as the years from
birth to preschool, kindergarten to sixth grade, and seventh through
12th grades.
Unvaccinated children without a medical exemption would have to be
home-schooled or study in small, private homeschooling groups.
(Reporting by Sharon Bernstein; Editing by Bill Trott and Eric
Beech)
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