Dr. Richard Pan (D-Sacramento) faces a recall effort from Californians that opposed SB 277 after the state Senator spearheaded the bill that made California one of three states with the most severe childhood vaccine laws.
Opponents of SB 277 are making good on promises to pursue the recall made during the course of debate over the bill. Now that the initial approval has been made, the Sacramento Bee reports that recall proponents have until December 31 to collect the 35,926 verified signatures from the Senator’s district needed to move ahead.
Pan’s legislation, co-authored with State Sen. Ben Allen (D-Santa Monica), removed parents’ ability to exempt a private or public school-enrolled child from even one state-required vaccine.
“It is not so much about the vaccinations as it is about the defense of liberty,” Elk Grove stay-at-home mom and SB 277 opponent Katherine Duran told the Bee.
The bill’s opponents repeatedly flooded the halls of California’s State Capitol and have rallied across the state in increasing numbers, even after the legislation was signed into law by Gov. Jerry Brown.
A separate effort is being made to continue the fight against SB 277 with a Nov. 2016 referendum. Former California Assemblyman Tim Donnelly is organizing the effort.
“Our goal is to terminate SB277 and to protect parents and their children. This referendum against SB277 is important to SO many parents of children who would otherwise hit the vaccine mandate at the start of the 2016 school year, because SB277 is slated to go into effect July 2016, right before the school year,” reads a website for the referendum effort.
An effort counter to the Pan recall has been launched as well. A “Keep Dr. Pan” Twitter profile had 88 followers as of Thursday. A Facebook page in favor of the recall effort had 840 likes.
Follow Michelle Moons on Twitter @MichelleDiana
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