The Sacramento Bee reported yesterday that California Democrat Assemblyman Ed Hernandez withdrew his HPV vaccine mandate bill from a health committee hearing "after lawmakers on both sides of the aisle expressed doubts." He says he will reintroduce it later.
The bill's original sponsor, Democrat Sally Lieber, dropped it after her family was discovered to own Merck stock. Merck is one of two pharmaceutical companies making the vaccine.
Speaking of whiffs of corruption, it appears about the only legislators remaining in support of the mandate are coincidentally also members of Women in Government, a group Merck has admitted it channeled $$ through to promote it. GlaxoSmithKline, the other pharmaceutical making the vaccine, also gave $$ to WiG.
Even Planned Parenthood's Guttmacher Institute isn't crazy about it. CBS reported Sunday that women's groups. anti-corporate groups, anti-big government groups, vaccine opponents, social conservatives, and parents' rights groups have all lined up on the other side.
Meanwhile, WiG, Merck, and GSK have all refused to tell me - or anyone - how much $$ Merck /GSK actually gave WiG to promote legislation forcing HPV vaccinations.
