Texans for Vaccine Choice
Formation | 2015 Anti-vaccination |
---|---|
Region | Texas |
Executive Director | Jackie Schlegel[1] |
Website | www |
Texans for Vaccine Choice (TFVC) is an
Background
Texans for Vaccine Choice was founded in 2015 by a group of mothers, led by Jackie Schlegel, who opposed legislation proposed by state representative Jason Villalba (R-Dallas) which would have eliminated conscientious exemptions to vaccination requirements in the state of Texas.[2][17] Referring to this bill, TFVC executive director Jackie Schlegel said, "This is Texas. We believe in parental rights in Texas. Like, that is just a fundamental belief that most Texans have that parents make decisions for their children, not the state."[5][10] The bill was never voted on.[2] When he ran for re-election, Villalba faced opposition from TFVC as well as a primary challenger who ran a campaign largely based on the vaccine exemption issue.[10] Villalba won, but stated that he believed opposition from TFVC reduced his margin of victory, and said, "I'm not interested in a suicide mission on this issue, I sense — and this is unfortunate — the only way a bill like this gets any traction is an even worse large-scale outbreak, between now and session. Short of that, I just don't think there is going to be the appetite to do this bill."[10]
Texans for Vaccine Choice also helps parents apply for vaccine exemptions for their children,
Political actions
Terri Andrews of the Immunization Collaboration of Tarrant County, a Texas Medical Association member initiative, describes TFVC as the "main anti-vaccination group in Texas".[3] Vaccine researcher Peter Hotez notes that moderate candidates in Texas are "being cherry-picked out by candidates running on anti-vaccine platforms".[15] One example is the 2018 Texas statehouse election for district 114, where TFVC endorsed Lisa Luby Ryan, unseating the incumbent Republican in the primary.[21] Ryan was beaten in the general election by Democrat John Turner.
Science communicator
See also
References
- ^ a b c Novack, Sophie (August 8, 2017). "Fringe Factor, How 'Mad Moms in Minivans' Injected Themselves into Texas' Anti-Vaccine Debate". Texas Observer. Retrieved January 12, 2018.
- ^ . Retrieved January 12, 2018.
- ^ a b "Immunization Collaboration of Tarrant County Countering Anti-Vaxxers With Shots and Information". Retrieved January 15, 2019.
- ^ "Benjamin Mazer: The dog whistle medicine of the anti-vaccine movement". March 9, 2018. Retrieved January 15, 2019.
- ^ a b c "Texas: Ground zero for the politicization of school vaccine mandates". sciencebasedmedicine.org. March 5, 2018. Retrieved September 3, 2018.
- ^ "How Anti-Vaxxers are Injecting Themselves into the Texas Republican Primaries". The Texas Observer. February 28, 2018.
- ^ "Trump energizes the anti-vaccine movement in Texas". Washington Post.
- ^ Evans, Marissa; Tribune, The Texas (November 15, 2018). "Anti-vaccine Texas families may take their fight to day cares next". Retrieved January 15, 2019.
- ISBN 9780128133620.
- ^ a b c d Smith, Morgan (April 2, 2016). "PAC Mobilizes to Defend Vaccine Exemptions in Texas". The Texas Tribune. Retrieved January 12, 2018.
- ^ Gorden, Max (March 3, 2017). "Texas Groups Fight Pro-Vaccine Legislation". Spectrum News Austin. Retrieved January 12, 2018.
- S2CID 159815147.
- ^ a b "Vaccines do not cause autism, says Dad who should know [Opinion] - HoustonChronicle.com". December 22, 2018. Retrieved January 15, 2019.
- ^ "Vaccine exemptions on the rise among Texas students - HoustonChronicle.com". August 15, 2016. Retrieved January 17, 2019.
- ^ ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved January 15, 2019.
- ^ "US Scientists: Refusing Vaccines Puts Everyone's Health at Risk". Retrieved January 15, 2019.
- ^ Sun, Lena H. (February 20, 2017). "Trump energizes the anti-vaccine movement in Texas". The Washington Post. Retrieved January 12, 2018.
- ^ "Why Texas is becoming a major antivaccine battlefield". Science | AAAS. November 30, 2016. Retrieved September 3, 2018.
- ^ PMID 27780206.
- ^ Graham, Ruth (November 16, 2016). "Private School Parents Are Keeping Austin Weird—and Unsafe—by Not Vaccinating Their Kids". Retrieved January 15, 2019.
- ^ "Democrat hopes to flip Dallas district in Texas House race against staunch GOP Trump backer". Dallas News. October 22, 2018.