Health Action MA @HealthActionMA

In Massachusetts, efforts to eliminate the religious exemption raise significant constitutional questions. Our laws protect a child’s right to a public education, parents’ rights to direct the upbringing of their children, and the free exercise of religion under our state Constitution. While these rights are not absolute, they receive particularly strong protection in the Commonwealth. If the religious exemption is removed, lawsuits will almost certainly follow. But litigation takes months—or even years. During that time, children with sincerely held religious beliefs would still be excluded from school. Let’s not put Massachusetts families in that position. Join Health Action Massachusetts in protecting the religious exemption for school attendance. 🔗 Visit tinyurl.com/h2554 and go to our Action Center to oppose the removal of the religious exemption, or visit HealthActionMA.org to learn more about the bill and the steps you can take. #HealthActionMA #ReligiousExemption #H2554

OPPOSE: S.3070: An Act Promoting Community Immunity To oppose go to: tinyurl.com/s3070 To learn more go to: healthactionma.org Under This Bill Minors Could Consent to Preventive Care, Including Vaccination, Without Parental Consent or Knowledge. (SECTIONS 3 & 4) S.3070 would broaden current Massachusetts minor consent law (M.G.L. c.112 §12F) by allowing minors to consent to medical care for the “prevention” of an illness they may “be at risk of contracting”, even if they have not been exposed to the illness and are unlikely to be exposed to the illness.. This is a material expansion of current law, which generally allows minors to consent only to “treatment” or “diagnosis” of illnesses they believe they are “suffering from” or have “come in contact with”.  Adding the word “prevention” would allow minors to consent to vaccination without any input, notification or consent of parents. The preventative care provided under these circumstances may be administered by a provider who is unaware of the minor’s medical history and with whom the minor has no established relationship, regardless of the minor’s age or intellectual capacity. The bill includes no safeguards to ensure a minor has the intellectual capacity to provide informed consent. Records related to the care may be unavailable to parents due to medical privacy laws. Current Massachusetts law generally relies on parental involvement in preventative medical decision-making for minors. Parents provide physicians with medical information about their children, including allergies, current medications or diagnoses, and past adverse reactions.  This information is critical to a physician’s ability to give sound medical advice. Removing parents from preventative medical decision-making involving minors unnecessarily creates risks for minors and raises significant medical, ethical, and legal concerns.  To oppose go to: tinyurl.com/s3070

📚 Learn the Facts – Part Two Did you know Massachusetts has balanced public health and religious rights for decades? Because it has—and it's working. Under current Massachusetts law and regulations, students with religious exemptions may already be temporarily excluded from school during outbreaks and public health emergencies. There's simply no public health justification for permanently excluding approximately 1% of religious children from school when effective safeguards are already in place. And don't forget: Massachusetts has the highest vaccination rates in the United States. Join Health Action Massachusetts in protecting access to education for all children. 🔗 Visit HealthActionMA.org and go to our Action Center to oppose the removal of the religious exemption. #HealthActionMA #ReligiousExemption #H2554

🚨 20% off TODAY ONLY - CODE: FINALDAY20 They were trained to follow orders… but sworn to defend the Constitution. During COVID-19, U.S. service members were given orders many believed were unlawful — and told their careers depended on compliance. Some obeyed. Others refused. Nearly all paid a price. Duty to Disobey reveals what happened to those who stood their ground — and why their story matters to every American. This is more than a film. It’s a wake-up call. 🎬 WORLD PREMIERE + Q&A 📍 Embassy Theater 16 Pine St, Waltham, MA 02453 🗓 Tuesday, June 30 | 7:00 PM Doors open 6:00 PM • Movie at 7:00 PM followed by Q&A Merchandise available for purchase at the event! 🎟 Limited tickets remaining — get yours NOW! 👉 Tinyurl.com/DutyMA Hosted by Health Action MA A Tommey Burrowes production of a CHD film

🚨 We’re only at 54% ticket sales — let’s fill the theater! They were trained to follow orders… but sworn to defend the Constitution. During COVID-19, U.S. service members were given orders many believed were unlawful — and told their careers depended on compliance. Some obeyed. Others refused. Nearly all paid a price. Duty to Disobey reveals what happened to those who stood their ground — and why their story matters to every American. This is more than a film. It’s a wake-up call. 🎬 WORLD PREMIERE + Q&A 📍 Embassy Theater 16 Pine St, Waltham, MA 02453 🗓 Tuesday, June 30 | 7:00 PM Doors open 6:00 PM • Movie at 7:00 PM followed by Q&A Merchandise available for purchase at the event! 🎟 Limited tickets remaining — get yours NOW! 👉 Tinyurl.com/DutyMA Hosted by Health Action MA A Tommey Burrowes production of a CHD film

We are still short of our fundraising goal by $4,720, and our advocacy platform invoice is due June 14th. As we enter the home stretch of this legislative session, we are truly in the trenches and we NEED YOUR HELP. This platform is the backbone of so much of what we do. It allows us to: • Create action campaigns on bills we support and oppose • Send prewritten emails directly to elected officials • Send legislative updates and urgent alerts • Manage our advocate database • Send text alerts • Allow advocates to track their advocacy activity and participation • And much more This is truly the lifeline for families and for Health Action MA. Every email alert, action campaign, legislator contact, and urgent update relies on this system to function. Without it, our ability to rapidly mobilize, inform families, and advocate during critical legislative moments would be significantly impacted. We understand that this is a difficult financial time for many families right now, and we never take that lightly. But if you are in a position to help, please consider making a donation — even small contributions truly add up and help us continue this work during one of the most critical times of the legislative session. Donation link: tinyurl.com/goalma Thank you all for continuing to stand with us, support families, and help keep this movement going

BUDGET WIN! Following significant lobbying and advocacy efforts led by Health Action MA — Senator Rausch was asked to withdraw Amendment EHS 546. ———- Senator Becca Rausch submitted language from her controversial Community Immunity Act (S.3070) into the FY2027 Senate Budget under “Infectious Disease Prevention” through Amendment EHS 546. This amendment proposed significant potentially harmful impacts on educational access, parental rights, and public health authority. Policies of this magnitude should never be inserted into the state budget process in a manner that bypasses the level of scrutiny, public debate, and legislative review such proposals warrant. We are happy to report that the amendment was WITHDRAWN this evening. This marked the sixth attempt to advance portions of her proposed legislation through the state budget process. DONATE TO HELP US CONTINUE OUR WORK, VISIT HealthActionMA.org

🚨 BILL UPDATE: S.1244 — An Act Enhancing Access to Abortion Care - Presented by: Senator Rebecca Rausch THE BILL HAS BEEN REPORTED OUT FAVORABLY AND REFERRED TO THE JOINT COMMITTEE ON HEALTH CARE FINANCING This bill would remove §12F’s prohibition on minors consenting to sterilization and abortion, allowing qualifying minors to access these services without parental knowledge or consent. It also expands the state’s minor consent law to allow minors to consent to preventative medical care—including vaccinations—without parental involvement, regardless of age or intellectual capacity. S.1244’s companion bill H.1815 has been sent to study. In MA, “sent to study” means the bill will not move forward this session. Visit: TinyURL.com/HealthActionMA to visit our Action Center to oppose this bill and others that threaten parental rights 📌 Stay informed and follow along: HealthActionMA.org/2025–2026-Bills #HealthActionMA #Massachusetts #BillUpdate #ParentalRights

MASSACHUSETTS WORLD PREMIERE + Q&A Duty to Disobey Embassy Theater, 16 Pine St, Waltham, MA 02453 June 30 | 7:00 PM Doors open 6:00pm, movie starts at 7:00pm followed by Q&A A variety of merchandise will be available for purchase at the event. Get your tickets now — limited availability Tinyurl.com/DutyMA Hosted by: Health Action MA A Tommey Burrowes production of a CHD film

H.2554 Bill Update – April 15, 2026 The Joint Committee on Health Care Financing voted “Ought to Pass” on April 9th. That report became official today, and the bill has now been sent to the House Committee on Ways and Means. This is the bill that would eliminate religious exemptions for routine childhood immunizations for K-12 students in both public and private schools across Massachusetts. This is a key step, but the bill still has a long way to go. With over 8,000 bills filed this session and only 3.5 months left until the formal session ends on July 31, the timeline is very tight. What Needs to Happen Next? Typically: * Favorable report from House Ways and Means * Second & Third Readings + floor vote in the House * Move to the Senate (Senate Ways and Means, Steering & Policy, and final Senate vote) After July 31, the Legislature enters informal session, where controversial bills like this are typically not taken up as it takes just one no vote to stop it. What This Means & What You Can Do: We are closely monitoring every move, meeting with lawmakers, and will keep you updated. Now is the time to speak up. Please reach out to your state representative and senator. Tell them how this bill could harm families — especially the real risk of children losing access to education and the heavy burden it would place on parents. We’ll be sending out easy messaging templates and hosting a webinar with our lobby team soon so you can ask questions. Budget season is also here — we expect Sen. Rausch to file amendments again. We need to stay alert and work together to stop both the bill and any harmful amendments. We’re stronger together. Stay engaged More updates coming soon. Sign up for our newsletter healthactionma.org/newsletter

HE SIGNED!!! The IDAHO MEDICAL FREEDOM ACT is LAW. Idaho is the freest state!!! Congrats & gratitude to my health freedom sisters @liberty4_ever @ClendenonSarah and all the legislators who made this dream come true. @robbeiswenger @josh_idaho tinyurl.com/eh5kuze7

@LeslieManookian @liberty4_ever @ClendenonSarah @robbeiswenger @josh_idaho Congratulations from Massachusetts and thank you for your tireless work in making this happen.

MASSACHUSETTS BILL UPDATE: S.1244 — EXTENDED TO TUESDAY JUNE 30, 2026 S.1244– An Act Enhancing Access to Abortion Care - Presented by: Senator Rebecca Rausch This bill would remove §12F’s prohibition on minors consenting to sterilization and abortion, allowing qualifying minors to access these services without parental knowledge or consent. It also expands the state’s minor consent law to allow minors to consent to preventative medical care—including vaccinations—without parental involvement, regardless of age or intellectual capacity. S.1244’s companion bill H.1815 has been sent to study. In MA, “sent to study” means the bill will not move forward this session. Stay informed and follow along: HealthActionMA.org/2025–2026-Bills

They were trained to follow orders… but sworn to defend the Constitution. During COVID-19, U.S. service members were given orders many believed were unlawful—and told their careers depended on compliance. Some obeyed. Others refused. Nearly all paid a price. Duty to Disobey reveals what happened to those who stood their ground—and why their story matters to every American. This is more than a film. It’s a wake-up call. 🎬 WORLD PREMIERE + Q&A 📍 Embassy Theater Waltham, MA 🗓 June 30 | 7:00 PM 🎟 Get your tickets now — limited availability 👉 Tinyurl.com/DutyMA Hosted by: Health Action MA A Tommey Burrowes production of a CHD film

🚨 BILL UPDATE: S.2623 — REPORTING DATE EXTENDED TO TUESDAY, MARCH 31, 2026 S.2623 – An Act Promoting Community Immunity - Presented by Senator Becca Rausch. This bill would expand state control over immunization policy while limiting parental involvement and medical discretion. It allows minors to consent to vaccines without parental knowledge or age and mental capacity guidelines, requires doctors to sign exemption forms—which may lead to patient dismissal—and mandates annual state approval for exemptions with no clear appeal process. It may also restrict access to medical exemptions for medically fragile children and introduces “Elevated Risk” designations tied to a state-defined herd immunity threshold—potentially leading to public labeling and exclusion of healthy children, even without an outbreak. Extensions like this are not uncommon. Health Action MA will continue to monitor this bill and provide updates, tools, and support. 📌 Follow us and sign up for our newsletter to stay informed if this bill moves. #HealthActionMA #Massachusetts #BillUpdate #MAleg #MedicalFreedom #SchoolPolicy #PublicHealth #MAParents

🚨 BILL UPDATE: H.2554 — REPORTING DATE EXTENDED TO MONDAY, JUNE 15, 2026 H.2554 – An Act Relative to Routine Childhood Immunizations - Presented by Rep. Andres X. Vargas. If enacted, this bill would eliminate the religious exemption for school immunization requirements for K–12 students in both public and private schools across Massachusetts. This could impact access to education for families who rely on religious exemptions and raises concerns about educational equity and inclusion. Extensions like this are not uncommon. Health Action MA will continue to monitor this bill and provide updates, tools, and support. 📌 Follow us and sign up for our newsletter to stay informed if this bill moves. healthactionma.org #HealthActionMA #Massachusetts #BillUpdate #MApoli #ReligiousFreedom #SchoolPolicy #PublicHealth #MAParents