A new bill, LD 798, introduced in the Maine Legislature would remove religious exemptions from vaccination requirements.

Many states, including Maine, allow parents to claim a religious exemption from regulations that require they vaccinate their children. When parents choose not to vaccinate, it not only compromises the health of their own children, but also jeopardizes the “herd immunity” those who cannot receive vaccinations for health reasons rely on to stay healthy.

Please counter the influence of the anti-science Religious Right, whose dangerous rhetoric is causing very serious and preventable infectious disease outbreaks in numerous states across the country. For example, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports 206 individual cases of measles were confirmed in 11 states between Jan. 1 and the end of February. The nation saw 372 cases in all of 2018. The states that see the highest incidences of the disease are those with the most relaxed exemption laws.

Please stand up for this common sense bill that will protect Maine residents from the dangerous implications of others people’s religious dogma. Please use our simple, automated system to ask your representatives to support LD 798 and feel free to use or adapt the provided talking points.

LD 798 is currently being considered by the state’s Committee on Education And Cultural Affairs, which is scheduled to hold a public hearing on the bill on Wednesday, March 13, at 1 p.m. in Augusta. If you are able to attend this hearing to support this bill, please consider doing so.

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