Texans For Vaccine Choice is accustomed to uphill battles, however, the circumstances leading up to 86th Legislative Session brought new levels of challenge and contention to our mission of protecting and advancing informed consent, medical privacy, and vaccine choice. Despite a grueling election cycle, a shift in the makeup of the legislature, constant maligning of our organization and our cause in the media, and numerous Champion Legislator failures, Texans for Vaccine Choice is celebrating another successful legislative session.
While TFVC remains a non-partisan organization, it is no secret that the Democrat party has not historically been supportive of our mission. What became known as the “Beto Effect” in the November General Election not only resulted in the loss of several Republican legislators but also drastically shifted the overall atmosphere of the legislature. Many who earned the title “TFVC Champion Legislator” as a result of their outstanding efforts on our behalf during the 85th Legislative Session suddenly lacked the resolve to take a bold stand alongside Texas families again in the fight for bodily autonomy and medical freedom.
Contributing to these legislative challenges was the intense media focus on 15 largely isolated cases of measles that occurred from February through April here in Texas. The media, public health officials, and our opposition blamed rising exemption rates and unvaccinated school children for these cases, despite the fact that a number of the cases occurred in patients who were not school aged and had been previously vaccinated. The fear-inducing media narrative was difficult to overcome when seeking bill authors, therefore further handicapping our legislative efforts.
In the face of all of these adversities, we are happy to end this session on a high note with EIGHT exciting victories to report:
#1: Six Pro-Parental Choice Bills Were Filed On Our Behalf
HB 1490 (Rep. Krause): Allowing blank exemption forms to be printed directly from the Department of State Health Services website
HB 3857 (Rep. Tinderholt) / SB 2351 (Sen. Hall): Protecting Medicaid patients from discrimination by state-funded doctors based on vaccination status
HB 4274 (Rep. Zedler): Defining informed consent to vaccination
HB 4418 (Rep. Stickland): Allowing advanced practice registered nurses to sign medical exemptions to vaccination
#2: First-Ever Vaccine Safety Bill Was Filed
The Vaccine Safety Assurance Act (SB 2350) was filed by Sen. Hall. This bill would have, for the first time ever, required all vaccines administered to Texas children to have been tested (a) against a true placebo, (b) with sufficient time for adverse-events to be detected; (c) for carcinogenic and mutagenic affects; (d) for safety for women who are pregnant, and (e) shown not to cause autism.
#3: All Dangerous Bills Were Defeated
Ten bills were filed that TFVC actively opposed. Two bills, HB 1966 (Rep. Wu) and SB 329 (Sen. Seliger) had committee hearings. SB 329, known as the Parents’ Right to Know Bill, would have reported vaccination and exemption rates at the campus level. HB 1966 would have allowed day care centers to also report vaccination rates at the center-level. TFVC brought strong testimony against both bills and neither bill was ever brought up for a committee vote, guaranteeing the death of both bills.
Hearing Stats:
SB 329
- 19 TFVC members testified in opposition of the bill, including 5 medical professionals
- 26 TFVC members registered in opposition of the bill, including 1 medical professional
HB 1966
- 18 TFVC members testified in opposition of the bill, including 3 medical professionals
- 25 TFVC members registered in opposition of the bill, including 1 medical professional
#4: We Obtained A Hearing For One Bill We Supported
SB 2351 was heard in the Health and Human Services Committee. Several TFVC members testified about being dismissed by Medicaid doctors due to choosing a personalized vaccination schedule. Others focused on how these discriminatory practices deny healthcare to our most vulnerable Texans and that discrimination by Medicaid doctors equates to state-sanctioned discrimination.
Hearing Stats:
- 15 TFVC members testified in support of the bill, including 3 medical professionals
- 27 TFVC members registered in support of the bill, including 2 medical professionals
#5: TFVC Was Actively Engaged Throughout Session
Capitol Kids Canvas Day: Designed to be family-friendly, CKCDs consisted of quick visits to every legislator office each Wednesday to distribute handouts targeting a specific message. During Session, TFVC hosted 13 Canvas Days, totaling nearly 2,400 office visits.
Community Kids Canvas Day: We sponsored two Community Kids Canvas Days to encourage our families to spread the word, reach their neighborhoods, and support each other in their local communities.
Science Advisory Committee: We assembled a team of professionals with expertise in the fields of science and medicine to advise us on sensitive or technical issues concerning vaccine science and vaccine safety. We utilized their wealth of knowledge when developing new legislative materials among other things.
Champion Appreciation Lunch: In order to honor both our champion legislators and our most faithfully involved families, we hosted a lunch at the Capitol and delivered gift baskets and certificates to legislator offices at the end of Session.
Legislative Action Alerts: Action Alerts were executed promptly, clearly, and were communicated via member emails and posts on social media.
Citizen Engagement Days: We hosted 2 CEDs where TFVC members, led by a trained small group leader, were invited to the capitol to visit legislator offices. Each CED had a specific goal and target audience based on the highest legislative need in the Session at that time. Member attendance: 75 and 65 respectively.
Trip to D.C.: In order to do our part to ensure vaccine choice had a seat at the national table during a time when the federal government addressed issues surrounding vaccination, we attended the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s hearing entitled “Confronting a Growing Public Health Threat: Measles Outbreaks in the U.S.”. While the hearing did not include any public comment, we were able to obtain meetings with several U.S. Congresspersons in order to combat the misinformation shared in the hearing.
Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.: We hosted Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., the leading vaccine safety advocate in the world, at the capitol. He was recognized from the floor in both chambers, spoke at our Press Conference, and presented a Vaccine Safety Forum to which all legislators had been invited.
Freedom Fight: A two day event that began with a full day of speakers from around the nation (including medical professionals and legislators) that equipped and empowered our members in their advocacy. The event culminated in a rally attended by over 600 Texans on the South Steps of the Capitol.
Emails Sent: 363,349 total emails were sent during Session. We would like to give more specifics on our email communication statistics, but sadly, MailChimp deleted our account unannounced before we had the opportunity to gather all of that data. Which brings us to…
#6: Against All Odds, TFVC Prevailed and Grew!
In the midst of heavy censorship, we succeeded in reaching record numbers of people with our message via social media. Public health officials have been outspoken about their desire for our voices to be silenced, going so far as to call Amazon, Pinterest, YouTube, and Facebook to remove content related to vaccine choice and labeling it “misinformation.”
The calculated movement to control the narrative has never been more apparent. Local and national media reports heavily favor the vaccine mandate agenda, and despite accommodating numerous interview requests on for CBS Evening News, The Today Show, and others, the intense media shut-out prevailed and the interviews never aired. Instead, stories promoting fear of and discrimination against those who question vaccine safety are constantly run and vigorously promoted.
As a result, even the Capitol building has become an unsafe place for TFVC members. Legislators, staffers, and fellow Capitol visitors – emboldened by the media-driven pharma talking point of the unvaccinated being a public health danger – have suddenly found it appropriate to openly discriminate against, mock, and belittle our families. From legislators denying our members entrance to their offices, to snide allusions to contaminated elevator air, and even adults yelling in our children’s faces, TFVC members boldly persisted in their advocacy.
Circumstances that would on paper signal the end of a movement have only served to grow our membership and spread our message. Undaunted, TFVC prevailed.
Membership: Over 2000 new members officially joined TFVC this Session, signifying a 25% increase.
Facebook: Over 6,830 new followers on Facebook, signifying a 27% increase.
In summary, through strategic collaboration with parental rights organizations, national partnerships with health freedom stakeholders, and strong support from fellow grassroots activist, Texans for Vaccine Choice is proud of the overwhelmingly successful outcome of the 86th Legislative Session, which exceeded both state and national expectations. Texans for Vaccine Choice continues to defy the odds, earning a reputation as the most organized and professional vaccine choice organization in the world. Texans for Vaccine Choice is proud to lead the fight in protecting and advancing informed consent, medical privacy, and vaccine choice.
