Children's Health Defense leader urges Vermont to protect informed-consent rights as federal vaccine guidance shifts

Mary Holland, president and CEO of Children's Health Defense, told the House Healthcare committee on Feb. 3 that Vermont should safeguard informed consent and "health choice" in light of recent federal vaccine guidance changes and lingering safety questions.

Holland said she supports a package of bills in the Vermont House that, in her view, would protect parental choice, require reporting of adverse reactions and bar discrimination on the basis of immunization status. "I think those are all very laudable, bills that are worthy of consideration," she said.

Holland framed the issue around what she described as a national chronic-disease crisis and argued the federal vaccine policy architecture established by the 1986 National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act shaped mandating practices at the state level. She told the committee…