|
 The effort is part of a backlash against a bill signed into law this
summer by Democratic Governor Jerry Brown that requires pupils to be
vaccinated against childhood diseases unless they have a medical
reason to refuse. It was passed after a measles outbreak among
unvaccinated people at Disneyland last year.
"The misguided effort to repeal SB 277, my law to boost vaccination
rates, appears to have fallen short," said State Senator Richard
Pan, a pediatrician who represents the state capital of Sacramento.
"That would be good news for public health and particularly
California's children."
That law, which goes into effect next year, makes California the
third state to eliminate religious and other personal exemptions to
vaccinations. It generated strong 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.
Opponents, who had packed legislative hearings and targeted
lawmakers with advertisements, petitions and telephone campaigns,
reacted swiftly, some threatening lawsuits while also quickly
beginning work on the proposed referendum.
Supporters of the referendum had until Monday to turn in 365,880
valid signatures from registered voters in California in order for
the measure to appear on the November, 2016 ballot.
California's decentralized laws for signature-gathering require them
to be submitted county by county, making it difficult to know
immediately how many were turned in.
But as of Wednesday, only about 25,000 had been counted by the
state, and Twitter was alight with proclamations of victory by Pan's
supporters and complaints of sabotage by backers of repeal. The
state has until Oct. 8 to provide an official count.
[to top of second column] |
Tim Donnelly, a conservative former lawmaker who spearheaded the
referendum bid, complained in a statement sent to reporters that
special interests, including pharmaceutical companies, had "gone to
great lengths to thwart campaign efforts."
"The SB277 Referendum was sabotaged from without and within by
powerful forces from its very inception," Donnelly said. Donnelly
did not say how many signatures had been gathered, or immediately
return requests for clarification on Wednesday.
The Sacramento Bee newspaper said on Twitter that signature
gatherers indicated that the effort would fall short, but did not
name the source of that information.
(Editing by Eric Walsh)
[© 2015 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2015 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 |
