New York has our best opportunity in years to protect your right to a religious exemption from vaccine mandates to attend school.  Senate Bill S6141c and Assembly Bill A8123a would require all districts to use a standard application form and stop districts from passing judgment on your religious beliefs, which is exactly what happens in 46 other states already, but not New York.

     These bills are the result of years of effort and literally hundreds of meetings with legislators, agencies and community groups, and getting the bills passed will take a huge effort on our part. 

Please make it possible for the Autism Action Network to continue this effort to protect your children and your rights by supporting our one fundraiser of the year we are doing in conjunction with the  2017 Long Island Autism Community Walk and Resource Fair: 

https://grouprev.com/2017AutismCommunityWalk

     And please use the Take Action link to send messages to your State Senator and Assemblymember asking them to support these bills.

     As it is now in New York a change in a your district's superintendent, or a school principal, a new school nurse, a move to a new district, even your child moving up to first grade, middle school or high school can result in you losing your exemption.  What will you do then? Homeschool? Move? The stakes are high and you need to be involved if you want 

to protect your rights.

     Most of you are aware that Californians lost their right to exemptions in 2015, and there are bills in Albany right now to eliminate religious exemptions. France and Italy lost this right in the past few months. There is a global effort led by the big four drug companies, New York's own Pfizer, Merck, Glaxo and Sanofi to eliminate the right everywhere to chose what is done to our children's bodies.

     In some school districts, including New York City, only those people who hire highly experienced advocates can get through the system. Some districts including Williamsville, Tuckahoe, Great Neck and Clarkstown simply refuse all new applications. Several dozen others harass applicants or arbitrarily refuse exemptions in a haphazard way.  A growing number of school districts are starting to harass parents and deny them this basic right. But close to 700 school districts, at least for now, do not harass or deny applications, if you live in one of those districts do not take that right for granted.

    Thank you for your support, and please come to the Autism Community Walk on Sunday, October 15, at Belmont Lake State Park (Exit 38 on the Southern State Parkway) in Babylon, NY.