Full Transcript Introduction and Guest Background 0:03 Hey everybody, welcome to the Eat, Pray, Faith podcast with Dr. Tracy. That's me. 0:08 And today I have an incredible guest, Jessica, who is from PCIC, which is the 0:14 Pennsylvania Coalition for Informed Consent. We are going to talk about 0:18 everything from parental rights and going back to school. basically what 0:24 every parent needs to know when it comes to the state of Pennsylvania and what 0:29 rights do you have when your children attend school and we're going to talk 0:33 everything public school, private school, everything and even maybe home 0:36 school. We can touch on that. But Jessica, you are the legislative 0:41 director of PCIC and a steering team leader. I have to ask I our audience 0:47 wants to know a who you are and how you got involved with PCIC but also what is 0:52 PCIC and how did that come to fruition and also welcome I'm so glad you're 0:56 here. >> Thank you so much Dr. Tracy for having 0:59 me on today. Um yeah let's start with um what PCI is. It was formed in uh 201 uh 1:07 15 after the measles outbreak in Disneyland um in California. Um there 1:13 was a nationwide sweep to take away religious exemptions including um 1:19 Pennsylvania and it was a grassroots movement that was started here in 1:24 Harrisburg and formed into Pennsylvania coalition 1:28 for informed consent. Um we are again it's a we are a grassroots organization 1:34 all volunteer-based. anyone from grandparents, parents, um 1:39 health care workers, um just boots on the ground and advocating for informed 1:46 consent. Um a little bit about me, I'm a a mother of four. Um almost 17 years 1:53 ago, I was pregnant with our first and went to my PCP just for a regular 2:00 checkup and was offered the flu shot. I was told that um you know my baby could 2:05 die if I got influenza that season. So I didn't know any better and I got 2:12 the flu shot and I came home and told my husband and he basically said you did 2:16 what and started we we both started down the road of um he started informing me 2:23 of what vaccines actually can do. Um, and you know, the 2:29 more I learned, the more concerned I became. Um, however, that didn't stop us 2:34 from selectively vaccinating. And unfortunately, we played Russian 2:38 roulette and we lost. Um, my son is on the autism spectrum, ADHD, uh, severe 2:45 speech deficit even at the age of 16, and recently diagnosed with epilepsy at 2:50 15. Um, so you know, I again, we played Russian roulette and lost, 2:57 but I can tell you that my other three are not vaccinated and we learned a 3:01 really hard hard lesson. >> Yeah. Well, you know, God has a purpose 3:08 for your son. He >> absolutely. 3:10 >> So, I I know moms are probably listening right now and and feeling the weight of 3:16 the same story that you're talking about. And I want to position this too 3:20 that PCIC the organization is not antivax. It is 3:25 for informed consent that every parent has the right and agency over their 3:31 children to make the decisions and we deserve to keep those rights as parents
PCIC Mission and Personal Vaccine Story 3:35 whether you choose to vaccinate your children or not. That is your 3:39 constitutionally and God-given right. >> Absolutely. So that is really important. 3:46 Whether or not I choose or Jessica chooses, 3:50 that's not what we're here to discuss. We're actually here to discuss for all 3:54 parents what their rights are. And I think it's important, and I want to also 3:59 preface this that this is the Pennsylvania Coalition for Informed 4:03 Consent. We're talking about in the state of Pennsylvania, the school 4:06 districts within the state of Pennsylvania. There are other 4:09 organizations, Jessica, I'm sure, and other states that parents can get 4:13 involved in. Uh maybe you guys have a resource that we can post in the show 4:17 notes. Um, in addition to that, whatever we talk about here, we're talking about 4:22 Pennsylvania rights and um, you need to find out the rights within your state. 4:27 And I will post in the show notes a PDF um, you know, where you can find out 4:32 more information on what are your rights when it comes to required vaccines, uh, 4:38 if they are required, what does that look like within your school district, 4:41 etc., etc. But for today,formational purposes only according to the state of 4:46 Pennsylvania and we are here to discuss all parent rights. All of you, every one 4:52 of you that has little children. So that's where I want to start that with. 4:56 And uh Jessica, um your story is not uncommon. you know, as a clinician, 5:03 right, in practice, I hear it all the time, the absolute same story of, you 5:09 know, we thought we were doing the right thing. 5:12 >> Turns out that it didn't work out well for that child. Um, so this is not 5:18 uncommon, which is why it leads us to this conversation of parents need to 5:22 know their rights so that they have informed choice, and that's really what 5:26 your organization does, which is very much appreciated. So, let's get into 5:32 some questions unless you have anything you want to say in between that. 5:36 >> No, but thank you. Yeah, I I mean I just want to say if there are any other 5:41 mothers listening with the same story, you know, you are not alone. Um I live 5:47 with that guilt every day and wish I would have, you know, made better 5:53 decisions. Um but, you know, everyone lives and they learn and they do better. 5:58 that that's all you can ask to do is to do better. 6:02 >> Yes. Absolutely. And um you know God is not a God of should have, would have, 6:07 could have. He's an I am. So you know our our God has created us in his image 6:12 according to his design and there are no mistakes in God's creations. There are 6:17 hardships >> but you know we move forward in hope. 6:21 So, I'm so glad you're part of PCIC and be able to share your story so that you 6:26 know other parents feel safe coming to you and having conversations because it 6:29 wasn't always a safe space, Jessica, to come in and say, "I think my son or my 6:33 daughter was injured." It actually was a really unsafe space because you suddenly 6:40 were an antivaxer. >> Absolutely. 6:45 So, let's talk a little bit about parental rights in schools because I I 6:49 want to get clarity on some things. And I'm just going to give an update to 6:53 everybody just so we know how this all came to be. Recently, I wrote an article 6:58 for a local paper. And if you want a copy of that, you can reach out. It's on 7:02 my Facebook page. You can go search that. Uh, and I wrote it on um 7:08 requirements according to the Pennsylvania state law and the PA school 7:13 code of vaccinations of children going to school in the state of Pennsylvania. 7:17 And what I said and what is according to the actual law is that Pennsylvania is a 7:23 non-mandatory state. It allows exemptions medically, strong 7:28 philosophical belief and also religious. those that exemption can be signed by 7:36 the parent. They do not need a clergyman or a priest or a pastor. They don't need 7:42 a medical professional. They don't need, I don't know, somebody that would be 7:45 philosophically astute. I don't know. They don't need 7:49 anybody else to sign it except their own parental signature. And I just want 7:53 confirmation, Jessica, that that is correct. 7:56 >> That's absolutely correct. Yes. Um, in Pennsylvania, we have three types of 8:01 exemp exemptions. Um, you do not have to provide your child's immunization 8:08 record. Um, even if you don't want to, if you if your belief is, 8:14 I don't want the school having my child's medical records, you can still 8:20 hand in a philosophical exemption to your school. Um, or as I like to do, I 8:27 like to do religious and philosophical beliefs 8:30 >> and hand it in that way. Um, or you can do a medical exemption, which would have 8:35 to be signed by a uh doctor. >> And some kids do need a medical 8:40 exemption and not not because of vaccine injury. Some, you know, chronic 8:44 diseases, they know that by getting vaccinations 8:49 may repress the immune system, may challenge it in certain ways. So there 8:53 are medical exemptions that do exempt children from vaccinations 8:58 because it is safer. And then there is the fact that as we 9:03 have discussed on on past podcasts I have you know I have personally again my 9:08 personal opinion not speaking for PCIC this is Dr. Tracy's personal opinion 9:14 that there are no safety tests on vaccines and there are no safety tests 9:18 of the ingredients within vaccines. I think there are too many. I think there 9:22 are diseases that we don't need to be vaccinating against and due to my strong 9:26 philosophical belief based on massive research and also I don't want fetal 9:31 cell lines injected into my children due to my religious beliefs I have chosen no 9:36 for my children and that is my right in this state so um you said 9:45 we we have religious medical and strong philosophical so Please explain to me 9:52 and the audience why the verbiage on the materials that come home to parents say 10:01 vaccine requirements on those documentations and a parent reads that 10:07 and it says your child is required to have the following vaccinations to
Pennsylvania Vaccine Exemptions and School Requirements 10:12 attend school. Why are they allowed to do that? Isn't that coercion? 10:16 >> I I agree with you. I believe it's coercion. Um, we do have, um, a 10:22 representative who has a bill, um, that would like the law to change and require 10:28 school districts to state that 10:34 they can turn in records or they can turn in a medical, philosophical, or 10:40 religious exemption. I mean, he's been very specific in that bill language that 10:45 it must be in the same size text. Um, you know, it can't be in this tiny 10:49 little text that parents aren't going to read under a picture. It has to be 10:53 within that same, you know, paragraph. Um, yeah, I I absolutely agree with you 10:59 that it should not say that, but unfortunately, school districts get away 11:03 with it. And, you know, I think that's what a lot of people want. They want 11:07 your kids vaccinated in order to attend school. And they're not being quite 11:11 truthful. >> Yeah. And it's interesting because, you 11:14 know, when I wrote the article and it published in the paper, I can't tell you 11:18 how many people thought I was lying that like I was making it up. And I actually 11:24 quoted the school code, the the 28 uh PA code 23.84. 11:30 Like I I quoted it. I took it from the law. I put in the paper and everybody 11:37 was like, "That's not true." I'm like, "But but it's the law." So, it is a law 11:44 and Pennsylvania school policy because during all of the COVID 11:50 stuff, I actually went and took law classes. Um, I had to basically be an 11:57 attorney. I had to go in and, you know, fight for vaccine or excuse me, mask 12:04 exemptions, which shouldn't have been an exemption because it's not a medical 12:08 device, but that's a whole different topic. 12:10 um you know I went in and and you know basically was like this is wrong and so 12:16 I just don't understand why everybody follows the law but when it comes to 12:21 school districts they get to just scare parents into 12:26 you know vaccinating their kids when that's not true they don't have they're 12:32 not required >> right 12:34 >> so um just so everyone's aware you can find the Pennsylvania school code uh 12:40 vaccine exemption uh on your local government site. You 12:44 can go to pa.go and you can look up this law yourself 12:49 for medical, religious or philosophical. It is under 28 Pennsylvania code 23.484. 12:56 So that is an actual law that you can go look up and you do have that protection. 13:02 Now, there are there is some people that'll text me and say, you know, 13:08 Tracy, my son can't go to specific schools or even like, you know, subset 13:13 schools of these schools like trade schools and things like that. They're 13:17 not allowing them to attend class because they don't have certain 13:20 vaccinations. I'm particularly talking about in my area, in my county, in my 13:25 state. Is that legal? >> No. I mean they would have to turn in 13:32 again an exemption now. So I believe what the law does state is and it 13:38 recently within I want to say within the past 10 years changed that you only have 13:43 like the school nurse has seven days of the beginning of the school year and 13:48 then can say you can no longer come to school. But again, you do not have to 13:53 turn in your child's records. You can turn in a religious, philosophical or 13:58 medical exemption. Um I children cannot be turned away if you 14:04 are turning in an exemption. >> Right? 14:08 >> So basically just so parents are clear there are no what we're talking about is 14:14 updated vaccination records and an exemption is an updated vac. 14:21 >> Absolutely. Now, let's just talk about medical 14:24 records to schools anyway. I mean, h how did we get here that a 14:29 school has access to my child's private medical information? I mean, what if 14:34 there's something on there that might create discriminatory 14:39 actions against my child? Not that that would ever happen in a school every day, 14:43 but I mean, what if there was something private that I didn't want some I mean, 14:48 here's the thing, Jessica. Regardless, I mean, wasn't HIPPA developed so that 14:53 we didn't do this? So, can you tell me how schools have are allowed to have 14:58 access to my child's private medical information? 15:00 >> Yeah. What I will say is about about HIPPA's, you know, and I vaguely 15:05 remember its creation back in the '9s. Um, but I remember the big push was for 15:11 privacy. It's for privacy. It's for privacy. 15:14 Unfortunately, that that was a lie. And I'm I'm just gonna 15:19 say it was a lie. Um, usually HIPPA applies when you are um 15:27 now in when you are taking your records from a medical office to like um you're 15:34 filing with the insurance company, you know, um there's a transition of records 15:39 um and different things like that. Now, schools don't fall under HIPPA, they 15:44 fall under FURPA. Um, >> so explain that to us. 15:50 So that is 15:55 again that and I'm not an expert by any means in fura but schools don't the the 16:02 only provider they have is a school nurse and yes she would and and some 16:08 like PT speech therapist um occupational therapists if the only time 16:16 HIPPA applies to them is if they are billing out to a Medicaid plan. Um, and 16:22 there is a a transition. That's the only time in my knowledge that HIPPA would 16:28 apply for a school, but because a school entity is not a healthcare entity, HIPPA 16:34 does not apply. Um now there are safeguards again in furpa but um not 16:42 it's it's very different from HIPPA is is my um 16:47 >> so just so people are aware of what furpa is and it's fer pa it basically is 16:53 the family educational rights and privacy act so actually it was developed 16:58 right to keep privacy of student records within school districts 17:03 >> correct >> so all schools that receive federal 17:05 federal funding and they have to receive federal funding fall under this 17:10 application under the Department of Education and it's supposed to protect 17:14 parents and students um you know on any type of educational 17:21 records um they can request amendments to incorrect or misleading records, 17:27 consent to disclosures, things like that. So there is certain information 17:31 that can be disclosed without consent. Um such as like your directory 17:36 information. So when you get your packet from school and it says I allow my kid 17:40 to have their photo taken or their name to be put in the paper, you know, if 17:43 they did really good on on like a semester, parents can opt out of those 17:48 things. Health related records however uh those are part of the student 17:53 education record according to the Pennsylvania school code and fall under 17:58 furpa. So therefore they fall under these privacy protections. Okay. So that 18:05 being said, furpa furpa furpa, 18:11 the people that handle my children's medical private medical information and 18:16 records, are they furpa certified? Like how do I know that they're not going to 18:21 go talk about my kid to Sally down the street and say, "Oh, that little uh 18:27 Tracy's son, he's unvaccinated little measles disease carrier." Like, is there 18:32 a furpa, you know? oath that they have to take like how do I know I'm being 18:37 protected? >> That that's a great question. I mean I I 18:41 can tell you from even personal experience that you know schools aren't 18:45 always you know following these things. >> Um 18:50 yeah it's a great question that I don't have a good answer for but they I can 18:54 tell you again from personal experience that they just they don't know. Uh I'm 18:58 sure there's probably some kind of CEU requirements especially for like 19:04 administrators and different things. Um but yeah, it's you you just don't know. 19:11 >> So we've gone through the So what can we do when and this this happened, right? 19:16 The the paper came home. I took a picture of it. I deleted all the names 19:21 and everything cuz you know I don't want to cause any issues more than I cause 19:25 already. and I posted it and said, "Just so parents know, an updated vaccine 19:31 exemption is an updated record that you can turn into your class." And somebody 19:36 from your organization reached out privately, asked me what the school 19:40 district was. I sent them the the PDF with the school district name, and I 19:45 said this, and they said they need to provide language on there that tells a 19:50 parent they can turn in an exemption. and they contacted the school. So, I 19:56 really appreciated that, you know, you guys were advocates for my parental 20:02 rights. Um, is this something that you guys do in general across Pennsylvania? 20:07 >> Yeah, we have in the past. Um, we have reached out to school school districts 20:13 and said, you know, you really should be providing the entire truth. Um it's not 20:21 just uh immunization records that are required or that are accepted. It's an 20:27 exemption as well and that should be part of the communication going home to 20:31 parents or guardians. >> Okay. Awesome. So talk to me a little 20:36 bit now so that we're switching gears from vaccine exemptions, which we do now
Medical Records, FERPA, and School Privacy 20:41 know that you can send in a vaccine exemption signed by you, the parent, and 20:47 you're good to go. What's about what about the requirements 20:51 for dental exams and physicals? So, here's my thing, Jessica. 20:56 There is no law that says I have to have a pediatrician for my kid. 21:01 >> Right. >> Pediatricians weren't specialized till 21:04 the 1930s, late 30s. And really, um, you're not required to take your kid to 21:10 a pediatrician. I mean, why am I taking my kid to a pediatrician for a well 21:14 visit? If he's not sick, what am I going in for? We know what you're going in 21:18 for. So, let's hypothetically say a parent doesn't have a pediatrician. 21:22 Where am I getting a physical and why do I need to provide that to the school? 21:26 Can you tell me about that law? What are their exemptions available? Give me the 21:32 breakdown there. >> Yeah. So um actually if you go to our 21:36 website, we have a um download and it has the law that you talked about for 21:43 immunizations and the law regarding objections to examination on religious 21:48 grounds. Um, so you can, um, object to turning in physicals or even dental 21:57 exams. And that's actually, like I said, right on the printable exemption that we 22:02 have on our website. Um but yes, it it specifically says that um 22:10 exemptions from medical or dental examinations or I'm sorry, school 22:13 children or school employees may be excused from regular or special medical 22:18 or dental examinations on presentation of written evidence to the school 22:22 administration an administrator that the examinations are contrary to the re 22:28 religious beliefs of the parent or guardian of the child or of the 22:32 employee. So that is um subsection 23.45 um right there. Once again in school 22:40 code you may absolutely object to physical turning in physical or turning 22:44 in dental exams. >> Pretty amazing. So these are all the 22:49 things that were not made aware. Why do you think that schools don't provide 22:56 this information? What what are they getting? Is there a kickback for schools 23:01 for amount of vaccinated kids? Is there just mass fear because people don't 23:06 understand the immune system? Like >> I would lean towards mass fear in my 23:12 opinion. Um I'm not aware of like it's not like a pediatrician's office where 23:18 if you don't have x amount of children vaccinated you're getting a kickback or 23:23 you're not getting a kickback. Um yeah, it it's a great question and I 23:28 think there's a lot of a lot of things involved in that. Um and I I mean people 23:33 are in my opinion uneducated. Um 23:39 these common childhood ill well they were once known as a common childhood 23:43 illness, right? They're now fearful that they're getting this disease. Well, it's 23:47 an illness, you know, that my parents survived, our grandparents survived, and 23:54 yeah, it's I think I think it's more fear than anything. 23:59 >> Well, I think our grandparents had like two vaccines and if all these diseases 24:03 were so deadly, they would have died from them in their 40s and 50s, right? 24:07 >> When the second tier came around where their kids and their grandkids were 24:12 getting vaccinated for all these, but still alive. You know, they probably 24:16 just died of ripe old age. You know, if they're like my grandparents, my 24:20 grandmother had one vaccination and she lived to 99 years old. Perfect. Was only 24:26 ever on one medication for her stomach and she didn't get put on that 24:29 medication until she was in her late 80s. So, big difference of what we're 24:35 seeing today with chronic disease rising, uh, all of the things. So with 24:40 PCIC, tell me what the benefit is for local parents to get involved with your 24:46 organization and um like what what is it a membership 24:52 based like how how does your organization work? Give just fill me in 24:56 on how it works and how parents get involved. 24:58 >> We are not membership based. Um, the best way to get involved, um, if you 25:03 want to connect with like local parents is to really reach out at to us at 25:08 informed consent 2015gmail.com. Um, you know, before COVID, we were 25:14 actually putting together uh local chapter groups and we had very active 25:19 chapter groups across the state. Unfortunately, now that CO's over, um, 25:25 not as many people are as interested. Um, and I I I know it's not just our 25:31 grassroots organization. It's it's across all grassroots organizations, 25:35 right? CO's over. We don't have the time. We're too busy. Um, but we still 25:40 have a lot of active um, advocates across the state that we are 25:45 able to put you in contact with um, and, you know, join with like-minded moms and 25:53 dads um, across the state. So that that's probably the best way. Um the 26:00 other way, you know, that you can get involved with us is uh we have advocacy 26:05 days at the capital or lobby days we call them. Um usually about once a 26:09 month. I'm actually in charge of setting those up and we go around to legislative 26:15 offices. We have meetings with legislators and staff members just 26:20 talking about whatever um usually whatever bill is hot at the moment or 26:25 whatever we're trying to um draw attention to. Um and it can be anything 26:32 from, you know, right now with the Maha um movement, it can be anything from 26:37 data privacy to clean air, clean water, clean soil, um what we're serving our
Parent Advocacy and Getting Involved with PCIC 26:42 children at schools. um you know so it's it's a lot of 26:48 different things um that we are advocating for or against um you know in 26:54 the past I would say the past four years we have seen more good bills regarding 27:00 informed consent than we have seen bad um which has I mean that's huge we you 27:06 know when we formed we were seeing more bad bills versus good bills 27:11 >> now getting them to the finish line is a different story because of how our 27:15 political landscape is in Pennsylvania, but it is definitely very reassuring. 27:21 >> Well, I just want parents to realize that, you know, preservation of parental 27:26 rights doesn't start from the top down. It's grassroots up. 27:30 >> That's right. >> If we don't step in now before it 27:33 becomes a problem, that's a like we're such a reactive world. 27:37 >> We are. >> We wait to get sick, right, before we do 27:41 anything about our health. It's like it's it's just with everything. And you 27:46 know, with the most recent tragedy that we've seen, um, you know, and I'm 27:51 talking about Charlie Kirk, uh, I think now more than ever, you know, people 27:56 need to be brave. They need to understand 28:01 that there are things that you can do. You 28:04 can talk to your legislators. You can vote for the people that you want in. I 28:09 mean, I can't tell you how many people don't vote for their local government. I 28:12 mean, what are we >> and these are the people that are 28:15 protecting your rights, so you better know who they are. 28:18 >> Yes. >> So, I I hope that um if you guys want, 28:23 you can always reach out to me, PCIC, and let me know when your lobby days are 28:30 happening. I will share them. I will make people informed because people are 28:33 always asking me how to get more involved, what they can do. Um, but just 28:39 so we can clarify the topics we talked about today, updated 28:45 vaccine records include an exemption form signed by the parent. From what I 28:50 understand now, we can opt out of physicals and dental. We do not have to 28:55 provide those for the school and we can just submit a form. So that is great to 28:59 know. Um, PCIC. So basically you are currently going and lobbying at the 29:08 capital once a month. Is there any other things that you do where parents can 29:13 meet and greet or are there things online? How do they participate with you 29:17 in a more of a communitybased standard? >> Sure. We I mean there are definitely 29:22 educational events um that we do participate in. Um, I don't think we 29:27 have any like currently scheduled, but as things come up, we we try to have um 29:34 our advocates out there. Um, just to hand out information. We literally print 29:38 out our exemption forms and have them on our tables, you know, so parents can 29:42 take one. Um, we have, as I mentioned, the lobby days. 29:48 Um, we also host um one of the other steering team members. Um, we host an 29:54 advocacy 101 training. Um, and we actually do have one coming up uh later 29:59 this month. And let me just double check. I believe it is September 28th. 30:05 Um, and that's going to be at 700 p.m. And that's just on Zoom. Um, 30:11 so we we do do things like that because we know we know from experience how 30:15 intimidating it can be showing up at the Capitol and walking around with 30:20 legislators um talking to them. What do you say? 30:24 What do you wear? Um what don't you say? You know, so we know how intimidating 30:29 that is and that's why we put that training together um to help others and 30:35 encourage them that this isn't hard. It really isn't. Um the hardest part is 30:39 showing up, you know, getting the time off of work if you're a working parent. 30:44 Um and making that sacrifice is is the hardest part of this. Um 30:50 but >> well, I can tell you when I went up to 30:52 the cap and actually it was during the COVID masking time and um I had the 30:57 opportunity, this is this is a whole big story. Um there's two stories. So I'll 31:02 first start with the mask, right? I was on a podcast with Robert Scott Bell 31:07 >> and he has the Robert Scott Bell show. Talking to him about the fact that I was 31:11 going to talk to the local sheriff about, you know, the whole masking thing 31:16 going on in the schools. It was January. Nobody else was required to mask. Blah 31:20 blah blah. And Robert was like, "Oh, you should have Sheriff Mack show up." And I 31:25 was like, "Why don't" Now, Sheriff Mack was the one that um you know brought all 31:29 the other sheriffs together. And I can't remember what state. I think it was 31:32 Arizona when the Clintons were trying to take away gun laws. And basically what 31:37 people don't know is your sheriff has more authority than the federal 31:40 government so they can stop federal law. And I was like, "Oh." I was like, "Well, 31:46 I don't know Sheriff Mack, but" and Robert's like, "Well, I'll give you a 31:49 cell number." So I ended up in the sheriff's office on a Zoom with every 31:53 sheriff in Pennsylvania and Sheriff Mack on this Zoom. So that's like this is how 31:59 things happen to me, right? So, that was one thing. And then, um, I wanted to 32:05 bring a bunch of the legislators together on a Zoom and talk about the 32:10 1986 act. And I actually had Dr. Andy Wakefield on the phone with me. And I 32:17 got on this Zoom with them. And I what I will tell you, Jess, is what I was 32:20 really really disappointed and surprised at the same time is how many of those 32:27 people had no idea what the vaccine safety act was and what it entailed and 32:32 what were the three caveats and requirements to keep it enacted and they 32:37 were representing me and I was I was sitting there explaining it to them. So 32:42 for people listening about advocacy, I will guarantee you're probably better 32:47 researched because they do so many things and we're focused on one thing 32:50 like >> That's right. 32:52 >> Right. And so going up and getting a chair in front of them and talking about 32:57 this specific topic is really really important because they have a bunch of 33:01 other things they're thinking about. They may not be looking at a bill that 33:05 was just passed. So guys, step in. So, how do parents get involved with you? 33:12 How do they become PCIC members or advocates or you're a you said you're a 33:18 team leader here. You're steering team leader. What What team what team are you 33:22 steering? >> Yeah. So, I mean honestly just by 33:27 showing up I mean again coming to our capital we have um usually monthly um 33:33 advocacy calls as well with uh originally it was designed for our 33:36 chapter leaders but it's now open to all volunteers anybody who is you know 33:41 willing to put in um any kind of time with us whether it might be our social 33:45 media team um our you know graphics design team anybody that is writing blog 33:52 posts for us. Um, you know, so there's several ways of getting involved, not 33:57 just, you know, locally or, you know, at Harrisburg, um, on our lobby days. Um, 34:03 any and we're we're open to ideas. We would love to hear from others. Um, 34:10 you know, if if we aren't doing something, you know, that they would 34:13 love us to to be doing. Um, unfortunately I will say with the maja 34:18 movement I have realized that I am not an expert in all these things like clean 34:23 air, clean water, clean soil. Do I want it? Absolutely. Do I want to be 34:28 informed? Absolutely. But we need people to help step up and you know um get 34:35 involved and help us >> action. That's a good CTA. I think every 34:41 school orientation day there should be a table out front of every school 34:46 >> sitting there passing out the exemption forms reminding them that updated 34:50 vaccine record. >> Right. No, that's a great idea. I wish I 34:54 had the the volunteers to do that. >> I'll I'll do my district a pile of 34:59 papers. I'll stand outside and be like, "Know your rights. Know your rights. Let 35:02 them coerc you." I'll probably get thrown off school property. That won't 35:06 be my first time. I'm okay with an escort. I'll be like, 35:11 "This is a lovely car. Just take me home." 35:15 >> Well, I certainly appreciate everything that you guys do and thank you so much 35:19 for coming here today. Uh, I'm going to let you leave the parents that are 35:24 listening with the last word of wisdom on what you feel is the most important 35:28 thing that they need to understand. >> I think what you need to understand is 35:34 you need to know your rights. um when red flags are popping up um or something 35:41 doesn't sit right well with you, it's it's time to ask the hard questions. 35:44 It's time to look into um you know what your rights are or what
Homeschooling and Catholic School Vaccine Policies 35:49 you know the information you need to arm yourself with. Um 35:54 that that's that's what parents really need to know. um they need to be in tune 35:59 with what is going on >> and read read your Pennsylvania 36:05 Constitution, even if it's just the sections that pertain to you and read 36:09 your school code because what we're talking about applies to public and 36:13 private schools, Catholic schools, Christian schools, if they are under the 36:18 Department of Education and they are receiving federal funding, 36:23 they are required to follow the Pennsylvania Education 36:28 system that is passed down. And what that means is there'll be certain things 36:32 that they pass on to you as the parent and it's not always presented as it 36:38 should legally be. So you need to know what your rights are. And if co taught 36:44 me anything, it was be proactive, not reactive. And I will tell you if you 36:50 need help, reach out to me because I'll get you in touch with someone from PCIC. 36:55 If you need an exemption form, please go to their website, go help them out, go 36:59 volunteer, go donate your time. But most importantly, don't get 37:04 intimidated by a school district. Um, a big question for homeschoolers, you 37:11 know, obviously they're homeschooling, but for them to participate in certain 37:16 activities, sometimes there's requirements. I do believe homeschoolers 37:21 have to turn in exemptions as well. Is that correct? So, yeah, I'm glad you 37:26 asked about that because that is something I wanted to touch on and I'd 37:29 love to come back to Catholic schools if you have the time. 37:32 >> Um, so homeschoolers, there is actually two places, two 37:38 different places within school code and homeschool law that actually contradict 37:43 each other. Um, one says that you can turn basically turn in um 37:50 an one requires the uh records or exemption. The other is an affidavit 37:57 requirement. Um, so they actually kind of contradict each other because in an 38:01 affidavit you're swearing to um having these records but not necessarily having 38:07 to turn them in. You can turn in the affidavit instead. Um recently HSLDA 38:14 um put out a notification that they are um and this this doesn't necessar 38:19 necessarily pertain to medical freedom but it does pertain to parental rights 38:23 um they are asking a certain school district I believe within Lancaster 38:28 County is asking um parents to pro provide their uh high school diploma and 38:34 that is actually they do not have to and they're actually showing up to um those 38:40 houses and asking for the information. Um don't answer the door is my advice. 38:50 >> I tell I'd tell them to call the police and you know report them for 38:53 trespassing. Let's one up it. >> Let's just up it. Yeah. You ask them to 38:57 leave once. If they don't, they're trespassing. Just so you guys know, you 39:00 can call the police. Do that. Fight fire with fire. I'm sick of being nice to 39:04 these people. I I know. So, Catholic schools, 39:09 >> Catholic schools within Pennsylvania, we are seeing 39:13 this has been an ongoing issue. Um, and it's mostly within the arch dascese of 39:18 Philadelphia. I'm actually working look working with a woman um within AOP who 39:25 um is trying to fight um their policy and 39:30 uh get them to rewrite their policy because they are not accepting anything 39:34 but a medical exemption and even those they are um 39:40 being very um 39:44 hard on and not they will deny them not tell parents why specifically they are 39:50 denying them. Um, certain uh parish schools actually list that you may not 39:56 be seen by a certain doctor because that doctor provides them too many medical 40:01 exemptions is basically what is happening. Um, and they don't want to 40:05 deal with that doctor. Um, there are some really crazy things that 40:10 are going on within the arch dascese of Philadelphia. Um, we do not experience 40:14 that across the state. Um again it's just within AOP. Um 40:20 now we also know that there are some parish schools 40:27 who do not follow the arch dascese policy and my understanding that is 40:33 because the parish priest is the one saying no you're going to accept this 40:40 or no you're not. Um the parish priest my again my understanding does not fall 40:46 within the jurisdiction of the superintendent of the arch dascese of 40:51 Philadelphia. He falls under the bishop. So if the arch dascese superintendent is 40:58 saying one thing the parish priest can say nope we're not doing that we're not 41:01 following that. Um which is really interesting. Um we PCIC has been um 41:10 contacting several of our contacts including attorneys because 41:15 we are very concerned >> regarding this. Unfortunately, 41:21 there's no case law. Well, there is a case law in Florida. Um 41:26 and unfortunately, they kind of messed things up in Florida about I I think 41:31 it's between like five and 10 years ago. just made things worse. 41:35 >> Um, so it is something that we are cautious about, but we are, you know, 41:40 working. Um, >> well, let me ask you this question 41:44 because this was just cleared up real quick and I think anybody ounce of 41:47 common sense would be able to be like, oh, do Catholic schools receive federal 41:52 funding? >> Yeah. And they also 41:54 >> it's not under the Pennsylvania law and that's the end of it. That's the way it 41:58 should be. So, if we're going to allow religion to trickle in, which was the 42:02 point, the point of the separation of church and state was actually to protect 42:06 the church at first. Now, we're starting to see that it is to protect state law. 42:10 So, here's the thing. If it's an attorney and they can't see that, they 42:14 should probably go back to law school. Um, and second, you know, if a judge 42:18 would actually roll on the point of the arch dascese, that's silly. If you're 42:22 taking the easiest thing is to cut federal funding off of those schools. If 42:26 you're not going to allow parental rights, cut federal funding because they 42:29 need it. >> Yeah, I don't disagree with you. What 42:32 we're getting push back from attorneys is because they are a religious 42:36 institution. They can do these things despite I know 42:41 despite accepting the federal funding, the state funding. We know that they are 42:45 accepting state funding in certain um Catholic schools because they are 42:49 teaching um the department of ed curriculum um such as uh evolution for 42:56 example within a can you imagine teaching evolution within a Catholic 42:59 school. Why are you teaching evolution within a Catholic school? 43:02 >> I mean Christian schools receive federal funding and they're because they're a 43:06 religious institution. Yeah. I mean, I think sometimes people get upset about 43:10 taking on the Vatican, but anyway. >> Yeah. 43:13 >> I really think if your child's going to a Catholic school, you know, there has 43:17 to be a precedent set in the law that they compare it to. And if Florida 43:20 messed it up, I mean, that's going to be over soon anyway because Dantis is 43:24 trying to take away like no vaccines for anybody, you know? So, that'll be null 43:29 and void. So, shouldn't you? The problem they're saying, what the attorneys are 43:33 saying is the rel religious institution can set what whatever they want to set. 43:39 I I don't disagree. >> What happened to that policy during co 43:42 >> Right. >> Right. So yeah, it's it's you know, 43:45 they're talking out of two sides of their mouth. It's just crazy. It's kind 43:48 of like whatever they want to do, not religion, but whatever the government 43:52 says. Like that's really what it comes down to. Well, here's the thing. Take 43:56 your kid out of Catholic school. There's a lot of other schools out there and you 43:59 can still go to church on Sunday. the end. So, um, if they make I mean, 44:04 Catholic schools are dying anyway. They should want more students, not be 44:07 pushing them away. I mean, Catholic schools are closing all over the place. 44:12 >> Well, Dr. Tracy, they don't require these any vaccine requirements for any 44:16 of the server or alter boys or girls. Um, they don't require it for anybody 44:21 that plays in their sports. So, a member of the parish that plays in their 44:25 sports. um they don't rem require it for any of the students attending their 44:30 religious education classes outside of you know the school. I I mean it's just 44:36 it's so hypocritical and I think you know if they would actually sit down and 44:40 think about this and say oh yeah >> it's discriminatory is what it is 44:45 because >> absolutely requiring it of one brand I 44:47 mean that's what discrimination is when the same laws don't apply to everybody. 44:52 So, so what do we do? Who do we call? So, what I always tell people is to call 44:58 the capitol and talk to um you know the department of health up there and know 45:03 your rights and ask them what the vaccine requirements are. And if a 45:07 school is unwavering, I tell them to report them. And I've done that in the 45:12 past and they actually do get a phone call, you know, from an attorney up at 45:17 the capital. But I don't know if that's still the same pathway. I don't want to 45:21 be >> I think it's important that 45:25 um people do call their legislators too and let them know what's going on and 45:29 what they're fighting. Whether they're red or blue, it doesn't matter. Call 45:35 them. Let them know you feel like you're being discriminated against. You are 45:38 being discriminated against. >> Um 45:42 and yeah, I think reporting them is definitely 45:46 a good angle. I think um contacting an attorney. I think sometimes if parents 45:55 would just contact an attorney and get an attorney to write them a letter and 45:58 say this is what state law says, you are accepting federal and state funding. 46:05 You should be following this law. I think that's enough to scare 46:10 sometimes some of these um private institutions, these private schools. 46:14 >> Yeah. Um, so that's that's another option for parents 46:18 >> in public school, right? >> With public school. Absolutely. Yes. 46:22 >> Yeah. >> And you know, I mean, so you can file a 46:26 complaint, just so you guys are aware, with the Pennsylvania Department of 46:29 Education. You can do that right on their site. Lots of people did that 46:33 during >> CO. 46:34 >> And um, call the Pennsylvania Department of Health, division of the school that 46:38 oversees all school health programs and compliance. 46:42 and obviously the FURPA office, which is your child's education and health 46:47 record. So, if they're going to put in an organization to protect my child and 46:50 my rights, they better be damned straight that I'm going to give them a 46:54 call if something happens. So, um the legal recourse if the district actually 46:59 refuses to honor the exemptions or violates Furpa, you can get what's 47:04 called an education attorney or a group that specializes like PCIC involved. Um, 47:10 like you said, sometimes just sending a letter is enough. And, uh, you know, 47:15 make sure you document everything, get it in writing. You know, if something 47:19 happens, a verbal exchange is not enough. If your child is being 47:23 discriminated against and told they need certain vaccines to attend Pennsylvania 47:27 schools, you need to send an email requesting in writing that they will not 47:33 accept an exemption. And if they say no, that's when you escalate it up. um 47:39 whether you could call the Department of Education or Furpa or whatever that 47:43 looks like, call your capital, let your legislators know and make sure you 47:47 document it. So, I'm not trying to go after schools in any way, shape, or
School-Based Health Centers and Hidden Consent Risks 47:50 form. I appreciate all that they do, but we need to be respectful of parents that 47:56 schools need to stay in their lane and anytime you reach your hand into my 48:00 living room with my children, you're going to get a call from me. So, um, we 48:06 all need to be a little bit braver now and stand a little bit stronger because 48:10 we've stepped back way too long, Jessica, and we're in the issues and 48:14 situations that we're in because we've done nothing. We've been reactive rather 48:18 than proactive. So, for proactive parents, get involved. Know your rights. 48:25 >> Dr. Tracy, the other thing I just want to sneak in here, school-based health 48:28 centers, have are you have you heard of them? Are you aware of them? 48:32 >> Oh, no. Go for it. Schoolbased health centers. There are over 30 school-based 48:37 health centers across the Commonwealth. Um something I just want to put parents 48:42 on alert um regarding because they are trying to sneak them in wherever they 48:48 can. um these school-based health centers 48:53 unfortunately in Pennsylvania and most states don't have any guardrails um for 48:57 these school-based health centers and they are an ex they want to basically 49:02 replace your PCP or your pediatrician and you would be getting services at 49:07 school um now 49:11 would they have to inform the parent most likely but if they're doing 49:15 anything regarding uh mental health care your child can consent at the age of 14 49:21 to any kind of mental health care. Um, and that's within our minor consent act 49:26 in Pennsylvania. Um, so there there are alarming things going 49:31 on at schools that you do need to pay close attention to. pay close attention 49:35 to the beginning of the year forms um if if your child does have a 49:41 school-based health center because what they will do is they will sneak that 49:44 consent right in um to any kind of health or school nurse consent um and 49:50 parents don't read it and don't realize what they are signing. 49:55 >> Um so that is something I want to caution every parent um in Pennsylvania. 50:02 Um, we saw it sneak in with, if you've ever heard of 50:05 >> CUTH. >> Okay, so Cuth was um, it's actually a 50:10 company, a mental health uh, platform that came across the pond 50:16 from the United Kingdom and was piloted here in Pennsylvania. Um, I believe it 50:22 was from I want to say I should know this by heart because I was boots on the 50:28 ground um regarding this program but I want to say around 2022 50:33 um till about 2024 but it it basically was being recommended by teachers 50:39 guidance counselors in about um 20 to 25 of our school districts in Pennsylvania 50:45 behind parents' backs. Um, parents did not know about this platform. Um, and it 50:51 was basically an anonymous platform that kids could sign up and talk to other 50:56 peers. Um, supposedly it was being monitored. We don't know if it was being 51:00 we there were some suspicions that it was being monitored more by AI. You 51:05 know, what was the qualifications if it was being, you know, managed by a real 51:09 person. Um but it was a very alarming pilot program that we had in 51:15 Pennsylvania and that was one of the things that um PCIC stood along um 51:20 citizens advisory of Pennsylvania um 51:25 especially with um representative Jamie Walsh um at the time he was not a 51:29 representative but he ran his platform on parental rights in CUTH um to get it 51:34 out of our our schools and you know eventually we were successful I believe 51:38 it was October of 2024 51:42 um that our state ended the grant money for the program early. Um 51:49 and they said basically you have four weeks and you're done in our schools. Um 51:54 but that was that was all a grassroots initiative. 51:58 >> Yeah. >> We were a part of and educating our 52:01 legislators and were successful at getting out of our our Pennsylvania 52:04 schools. But now they are sneaking up in other states. So the danger of this 52:08 whole thing was the fact that it was unmonitored. You didn't know who was 52:13 behind it. Was it coercion of some sort? Was it 52:18 >> So what I will say, Dr. Tracy, is I was able to sign up for an account 52:23 >> and I was able to access those peer message boards that they had going on. 52:26 You could talk to um you could schedule appointments with a provider. Um but 52:33 literally it was not a Zoom call. It was literally texting back and forth. So, or 52:39 typing back and forth, I should say, whether it was on your phone, on your 52:42 computer. Um, there was no face to face in this platform. Um, so how can you 52:48 really tell if somebody's suicidal >> if you can't see them? If you can't hear 52:53 their voice, how can you tell that somebody, you know, should be monitored? 52:58 And from our understanding, you know, if a kid was flagged as suicidal, the 53:04 school was called. It wasn't the parent that was called. It was the school that 53:07 was called and then the school followed their procedure and possibly called, you 53:12 know, the ambulance, possibly called parents. Um, there was it wasn't parents 53:18 involved. Um, that was our biggest problem with this platform. Um, and 53:24 anybody could again sign up for it. You know, they weren't checking, oh, is this 53:29 an actual person in this school district? Like, come on. 53:33 >> Predator. Is this a predator? try to get talk to somebody. So 53:36 >> that's exactly right. >> Honestly, 53:39 >> yeah. So these are things, you know, going on in Pennsylvania that 53:44 >> um you know, I just want to put on parents radars. You know, when 53:49 your child is going to school and they have an app on their their iPad or their 53:54 computer and they're getting mental health check-ins daily, um you should be
Final Advice: Know Your Rights and Stay Proactive 53:59 alarmed by this. So, 54:03 >> well, all good things that you're doing. I hope you guys, you know, like I said, 54:08 I'll support you any way I can. They don't they don't let me go up to 54:12 Harrisburg. No, I'm just kidding. 54:16 We're going. I'm like, oh, I'm coming. Take the advocacy class, Tracy. I'm 54:22 like, >> well, we would love to have you, Dr. 54:25 Tracy. >> I'll be there. You let me know. So, 54:28 thanks guys for listening. Uh, remember parents, you need to know your rights. 54:33 Get your school codes. Read the documents that come home. Don't just 54:36 sign things to get it done. That's the other thing I noticed. The kids will 54:40 bring home things and they'll say, "This has to be back tomorrow or I get I I 54:43 won't get my bonus five points." And I'm like, "Well, you can tell your teacher 54:47 that this document doesn't have to be returned till se September 7th and 54:51 you'll still get your five points or I'll be calling her cuz I'm not going to 54:55 be rushed to sign a document without reading it. I don't put my signature on 54:59 things I don't read. That's another little trickery. Yeah, that's got to 55:03 stop, too. And trust me, my kids always get their points. So, guys, you got to 55:07 be strong. You you can't be intimidated by these these government agencies that 55:13 are trying to take away and use fear tactics to to manipulate you to do 55:19 things that violate your own parental rights. You know, we got to be brave and 55:24 you got to be you got to be loud. There's no more silent majority. that 55:27 that's over. So, thank you, Jessica, for being here. God bless everything you're 55:32 doing in PCIC. We certainly do appreciate your efforts. And guys, if 55:36 this was helpful to you, remember it will be helpful to a fellow parent or 55:40 friend. Please send this recording along. Make sure you subscribe to the 55:44 channel. And I'll see you guys again next time.
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