NJ’s Religious Exemption to school vaccinations is still in danger. Although the NJ Senate did not have enough YES votes to bring S2173 to a floor vote in December, they can call a vote until January 14th, 2020 which is the end of the legislative year. Please take the following actions to help preserve NJ’s Religious Exemption:
1. Call, email, and visit your local legislative office to contact your State Senator.
Talking Points: State your opposition to S2173 and ask their position. If NO, thank them and encourage them to stay strong. If YES, discuss how NJ’s Religious Exemption is long-standing and grounded in the NJ constitution, how it provides bodily autonomy and parental choice, and most importantly how vaccines do not provide herd immunity according to CDC science detailed on this webpage. Finally, ask your senator to vote NO even if the bill is amended.
2. Call and email the Senate President & Bill Sponsor:
Senator Vitale – senvitale@njleg.org / 732-855-7441
Senator Weinberg – senweinberg@njleg.org / 201-928-0100
Senate President Sweeney: sensweeney@njleg.org / 856-251-9801
3. Call Governor Murphy (609-292-6000) to state your opposition to S2173.
4. Take NJ’s Stand for Health Freedoms actions that can be found here.
5. Be prepared to be in Trenton in January if S2173 is called to a vote – possible dates are January 9th and 13th.
6. Call and email these Senator using the same talking points used at your local legislative office. More importantly, reach out to friends and family in these districts and have them contact each Senator as a constituent of that district:
Shirley K. Turner: District 15 (609) 323-7239 / senturner@njleg.org
Sandra Cunningham District 31: (201)451-5100/sencunningham@njleg.org
Ronald L. Rice District 28 (NO calls) / senrice@njleg.org
Nia H. Gill, Esq. District 34: (973) 509-0388 / sengill@njleg.org
Vin Gopal: District 11 (732) 695-3371 / sengopal@njleg.org
Dawn Marie Addiego: District 8 (609) 654-1498 / senaddiego@njleg.org
Joseph A. Lagana District 38: (201) 576-9199 / senlagana@njleg.org
Declan O’Scanlon: District 13 (732) 444-1838 / senoscanlon@njleg.org
Nilsa Cruz-Perez District 5: (856) 541-1251 / sencruzperez@njleg.org
M. Teresa Ruiz District 29: (973) 484-1000 / senruiz@njleg.org
Paul Sarlo District 36: (201) 804-8118 / sensarlo@njleg.org
James Beach District 6: (856) 429-1572 / senbeach@njleg.org
Patrick J. Diegnan, Jr. District 18 (908) 757-1677 / senDiegnan@njleg.org
Fred Madden, Jr. District 4: (856) 232-6700 / senmadden@njleg.org
Richard J Cody District 27: (973) 535-5017 / sencody@njleg.org
Nellie Pou District 35: (973) 247-1555 / senpou@njleg.org
7. Write a Letter to the Editor to your local paper using the CDC science outlined here at njvaccinescience.org and see our Blog Post for examples of letters submitted.
8. District 11 Only – If you have kids taking the RE and live in District 11 please reach out to ayeletelbaz3@gmail.com regarding a special project.