California Bill Removing Parental Consent for 12-Year-Olds to Receive Vaccinations Passes Senate

A California bill that would remove parental consent for 12-year-olds to receive vaccinations has passed in the California State Senate.

SB 866 states:

Existing law prescribes various circumstances under which a minor may consent to their medical care and treatment without the consent of a parent or guardian. These circumstances include, among others, authorizing a minor 12 years of age or older who may have come into contact with an infectious, contagious, or communicable disease to consent to medical care related to the diagnosis or treatment of the disease, if the disease or condition is one that is required by law or regulation to be reported to the local health officer, or is a related sexually transmitted disease, as may be determined by the State Public Health Officer.

This bill would additionally authorize a minor 12 years of age or older to consent to vaccines that meet specified federal agency criteria. The bill would authorize a vaccine provider, as defined, to administer a vaccine pursuant to the bill, but would not authorize the vaccine provider to provide any service that is otherwise outside the vaccine provider’s scope of practice.

The bill removing parental consent for 12-year-olds to get vaccinated just passed the Senate by a single vote. We will stop this obscene legislation in the Assembly.

— Kevin Kiley (@KevinKileyCA) May 12, 2022

California (Clown World) has COMPLETELY LOST it's mind given they are about to commit the most unconscionable bioethical violation in COVID yet (so many unjust, innumerable & cruel violations but this is beyond insane). 12 year-olds. Terrifying. WTF https://t.co/lXn5NZGowr

— Pierre Kory, MD MPA (@PierreKory) May 7, 2022

Bill to let 12-Year Olds Get Vaccine Without Parental Consent Passes State Senate
Assemblyman Kiley vows bill won’t pass Assembly.https://t.co/9CwiZJEyX7

— Katy Grimes (@KATYSaccitizen) May 13, 2022

From California Globe:

SB 866 by Senators Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) and Richard Pan (D-Sacramento) to allow children ages 12 to 17 to take the COVID-19 vaccine without parental consent, just passed the California State Senate Thursday.

California legislators formed a “vaccine working group” earlier this year, claiming they wanted “to facilitate coordinated action and bring thoughtful, comprehensive approach to save lives.”

SB 866 was one of several bills introduced in the Legislature designed to increase vaccinations by Californians aged 18 or younger. However, as the number of COVID-19 cases in California drastically plummeted throughout the first several months of 2022, vaccine legislation efforts quickly lost steam. Support dried up as more scrutiny on the bills exposed mandates and the erosion of parental rights, in many cases.

But Sen. Wiener kept on with SB 866.

As Karen England with the  Capitol Resource Institute explained to the Globe in March, “This legislative body is relentless in their pursuit to strip away parental rights as they also fast-track SB 866, a bill that will give minors as young as 12 years-old the ability to consent to any FDA approved vaccination WITHOUT parental consent. This bill not only strips parents of their right to make important decisions regarding their child’s health, but it also places minors in a potentially dangerous situation. If a minor were to have an immediate adverse reaction to a vaccine, the parent would not know. Parents MUST be allowed to be the decision makers when it comes to the health of their children.”

Senator Melissa Melendez gave a passionate floor speech Thursday during Senate debate, centered on the government encroachment into parental rights.

She made these comments on Twitter:

For those who don’t understand the opposition to lowering the age for kids to get a vaccine without parental knowledge or consent, I will explain…

— Senator Melissa Melendez (@senatormelendez) May 12, 2022

Each health care provider who administers a vaccine set forth in the
Vaccine Injury Table shall provide to the legal representatives of any
child or to any other individual to whom such provider intends to
administer such vaccine a copy of the vaccine information statements,

— Senator Melissa Melendez (@senatormelendez) May 12, 2022

More importantly, any vaccine can have side effects, sometimes life threatening. That’s why parents are required to furnish information on the
child's medical history, prior allergic reactions, and the child's overall well-
being.

— Senator Melissa Melendez (@senatormelendez) May 12, 2022

Do we believe all 12 year olds will know what they’re allergic to and communicate that to the person administering the vaccine?

Do we believe they will be aware of any past reactions to vaccinations received as a toddler?

— Senator Melissa Melendez (@senatormelendez) May 12, 2022