...Another bill in the package would make it easier for Arizona parents to opt out, adding a new type of exemption in the state — an exemption based on religious objections.
The chair of the health committee, Rep. Nancy Barto, a Republican, is sponsoring the bills.
"These are not, in my view, anti-vaccination bills," Barto says. Instead, she reasons, the bills are about preserving religious liberty and individual rights.
But doctor after doctor at the hearing warned that the public's health was at stake...
...But that sobering scenario did not dissuade Republicans who control the health committee from voting the package of legislation through — that's despite opposition from every major medical organization in Arizona.
Rep. Becky Nutt, a Republican representing a district in Arizona's southeast corner, said she hears the concerns of the doctors, but still thinks parents should have the right to choose on behalf of their own children.
"We are in the United States of America," she says, "and we have a right to choose for our children — our religion."
Democrats on the health committee called on fellow lawmakers to resist emotional appeals.
"Don't confuse passion for facts," said Rep. Alma Hernandez, a Democrat from Tucson. She says Arizona needs to look at the established science when it comes to diseases that are preventable...
