WIN!  AVFCA's requested Amendment to AB 659 
changing "Expected" to "Recommended"
was unwillingly accepted
Thanks to Senator Eggman and the Senate Health Committee!

Bill Update:  Some organizations, such as the Freedom Angels, removed their opposition to AB 659 when the mandate language was removed.  However, A Voice for Choice Advocacy and some of our partners at the Coalition on Health Rights (http://www.conventiononhealthrights.org/) felt this was premature and have diligently been meeting with legislators and their staff to continue to request amendments to ensure the HPV vaccine in AB 659 a true recommendation rather than an unenforced mandate. 

Today our message broke through and Assembly Member Aguiar-Curry was forced to take our requested amendment to ensure that AB 659 passed out of the Senate Health Committee, even though her office had told us there was no way she would take such an amendment.  AVFCA's many hours of meetings paid off!  A Voice for Choice Advocacy is extremely thankful to the Senate Health Committee chair, Senator Eggman and her committee staffer, as well as the many legislative staffers our legislative team met with, who listened to our concerns and requested amendments.  AVFCA is also thankful to all of you who took our requested steps for Action and contacted your Senators, Assembly Members and committee members over the past months. 

AB 659 is now a true recommendation and is no longer a mandate without enforcement

As the bill moves to the Senate Education Committee, AVFCA will continue to request that the notification for this HPV recommendation only be sent to parents/guardians and NOT 6th graders, as all other notifications are.  But today, AB 659 is a bill that AVFCA can live with, through the power of amendments and our continued hard work in the Sacramento Capital!

Over the past 8 years, A Voice for Choice Advocacy has established itself as the leading legislative organization lobbying in the California Capitol for your health rights.  While A Voice for Choice Advocacy's lobbying activity in the Capitol is important, your positive constituent relationships with your CA State Senator and Assembly Member and their staff are critical to assisting with A Voice for Choice Advocacy's efforts in the Capitol.  

If you found this information helpful and appreciate the work A Voice for Choice Advocacy is doing, please support us by making a donation today.

Together we can make change happen!

C

Christina Hildebrand
President/Founder
A Voice for Choice Advocacy, Inc.
[email protected]
www.AVoiceForChoiceAdvocacy.org