Jerry Brown signs California vaccine bill
June 30, 2015, Sacramento Bee
By David Siders, Alexei Koseff and Jeremy B. White

Highlights
:: Law eliminates religious and personal belief exemptions for vaccines
:: Brown says ‘the science is clear’ on vaccines
:: Opponents vow lawsuit, ballot measure to repeal law

Gov. Jerry Brown on Tuesday signed one of the strictest schoolchild vaccination laws in the country, eliminating personal and religious belief exemptions for vaccines.
The governor’s signature came one day after the state Senate moved the bill to his desk, following months of protests and fierce debate at the Capitol.

“The science is clear that vaccines dramatically protect children against a number of infectious and dangerous diseases,” Brown said in a signing statement. “While it’s true that no medical intervention is without risk, the evidence shows that immunization powerfully benefits and protects the community.”

The bill will make California the third state in the nation to require vaccines without religious and personal belief exemptions.

Opponents of the measure said it unfairly restricts parent choice. They immediately vowed to challenge the law in court and potentially through a referendum at the ballot box, arguing it will deprive unvaccinated children of their constitutional right to an education…

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State of California: Governor Brown Signs Legislation
:: SB 277 by Senator Richard Pan (D-Sacramento) – Public health: vaccinations.
Signing message:
June 30, 2015
To Members of the California State senate
SB 277 has occasioned widespread interest and controversy – with both proponents and opponent expressing their opinions with eloquence and sincerity. After carefully reviewing the materials and arguments that have been presented, I have deiced to sign this bill

The science is clear that vaccines dramatically protect children against a number of infectious and dangerous diseases. While it’s true that no medical intervention is without risk, the evidence shows that immunization powerfully benefits and protects the community.

The Legislature, after considerable debate, specifically amended SB 277 to exempt a child from immunization whenever the child’s physician concludes that there are “circumstances, including but not limited to, family medical history, for which the physician does not recommend immunization…”

Thus, SB 277, while requiring that school children be vaccinated, explicitly provides an exception when a physician believes that circumstances – in the judgement of sound discretion of the physician – so warrant.