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Like Punxutawney Phil looking for his shadow every February, we have our own version of Groundhog Day as anti-vaccine legislation gets introduced each year. Up for consideration in the Kansas Senate Public Health and Welfare Committee are two bills, SB 390 and SB 391. Combined, the policies would undo vaccine requirements by adding a philosophical exemption to vaccination and prohibiting the exclusion of unvaccinated people from public places, including schools. The legislation also ties the hands of public health in stopping the spread of disease by not allowing quarantine measures for containment or even notice given to those exposed to disease. Taken together, these measures would place Kansas in the unenviable position of undoing a century of disease prevention that has made many of these illnesses a distant memory for most.
Against this backdrop, I participated in a pro-vaccine legislative day designed to educate lawmakers on lifesaving vaccines that have done so much to prevent disease in our state. One of our volunteers, Martha Hodgesmith, told her story about her journey with polio, contracted when she could not get the polio vaccine. Martha’s compelling testimony is a stark reminder of how vital vaccines are to the health of all Kansans and efforts to reverse vaccine mandates are a misguided approach that risks the health of the herd for the wishes of a few.
Tracy Russell
Executive Director, Nurture KC
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