New vaccination law worries health officials

House bill makes it easier for parents to decline immunizations for children

07/02/2003

By JANET ST. JAMES / WFAA-TV

Thousands of parents beat the school-year rush to get their children immunized.

However, many parents haven't heard of a new law that makes it easier to decline vaccinations.

Sheryl Weaver is one parent who believes a little pain now is worth the years of protection vaccinations will give her daughter Bailey.

"I think it's important other mothers do it, because my child plays with them, and I don't want her to get anything to jeopardize her health," Weaver said.

However, an amendment added to a bill on the last day of the Texas Legislature's recent regular session will allow parents to choose whether to vaccinate their children.

Currently, immunizations are required before children start school. Exemptions are only given for religious reasons, or when a doctor determines the vaccination itself could be harmful.

But, under House Bill 2292, parents can now decline immunizations for their child "for reasons of conscience."

"Parents who don't feel necessarily comfortable about getting immunizations may find it easier to simply get a form from the Texas Department of Health and not have their children immunized," said Keller pediatrician Jason Terk.

That has Terk concerned about the consequences to his patients, as well as to the public.

"The more children who are unimmunized or not completely immunized, the more risk we have of getting vaccine-preventable diseases like measles and pertussis break out in the community," Terk said.

Those who fought hard for the amendment, including the organization PROVE (Parents Requesting Open Vaccine Education), call the new law a victory.

In a statement, PROVE said, "At a time when physicians and vaccine manufacturers have lobbied for further release of liability from the harm they do, parents in Texas are grateful to have gained control over which vaccine risks their children will take."

The Texas Medical Association and Texas Pediatric Society both "oppose conscientious objection to vaccinations." Tarrant County health officials fear parents who typically wait until the last minute to immunize their children will use the new rule as an excuse to decline vaccinating at all.

"We don't know how it will play out completely, but that is a concern here at Public Health," said Ann Salyer Caldwell of the Tarrant County Health Department.

Weaver chooses to have her daughter vaccinated, but other Texas parents will have the option to make a different choice next year.

Parents would be required to get a health department document notarized before opting out of vaccinations.