VICTORY IN CALIFORNIA: AB 2651 IS DEAD!
Your Voice. Your Action. Your Victory.
Dear PERK Members,
We have great news from Sacramento: AB 2651 is dead!
On August 13, AB 2651, the Informed Parents, Healthy Schools Act, was held in the California Senate Appropriations Committee and will not move forward this legislative session. (Senate Appropriations Committee)
This is a victory for parents, privacy, medical freedom, and every Californian who took action. And it is a victory we share with you.
PERK formally opposed AB 2651, communicated directly with the author’s office, tracked the bill through the Legislature, alerted our members, provided advocacy letters and step-by-step instructions, and mobilized Californians to make their voices heard.
You responded.
You sent letters.
You contacted lawmakers.
You shared our alerts.
You followed the bill.
You spoke up.
And together, we helped stop AB 2651. Here’s our video explaining the victory!
Why PERK Opposed AB 2651
AB 2651 would have required schools to notify parents and guardians when the California Department of Public Health determined that a school’s immunization rate had fallen below a state-established threshold. (LegiScan)
While the bill was presented as a measure about information and transparency, PERK warned that its structure could create greater state involvement in private medical decisions, undermine medical freedom, and use schools as a vehicle for government-directed immunization messaging.
From the beginning, PERK raised serious concerns that AB 2651 could:
Threaten student and family privacy
Create pressure and stigma around families with vaccine exemptions
Expand government involvement in private medical decisions
Turn school immunization rates into a mechanism for targeting and pressure
Use schools to distribute state-directed vaccine messaging to families
Threaten medical freedom
As we told lawmakers throughout this fight, families should not be put on display and discriminated against, students should not be caught in the crossfire of government messaging campaigns, and schools should not become vehicles for pressure surrounding private medical choices.
You Took Action and Made An Impact
When AB 2651 began moving through the Legislature, PERK sounded the alarm. We published legislative updates, sent urgent email alerts, released social media calls to action, provided template opposition letters, gave advocates direct links and instructions for contacting lawmakers, and continued tracking the bill as it moved through committee.
Our advocacy portal recorded actions from PERK advocates opposing AB 2651. Every letter made an impact. Every phone call mattered. Every share reached more people. Every person who decided, “I am going to do something about this,” participated in the ultimate outcome of the bill dying.
That is how grassroots advocacy works. It is easy to look at Sacramento and believe that ordinary citizens cannot make a difference. This victory is another reminder that we can.
Thank You to the PERK Community
To every PERK member and advocate who responded to one of our alerts, submitted a letter, contacted a legislator, shared our information, encouraged a friend to act, or helped educate your community: Thank you!
You are not simply receiving PERK newsletters. You are part of the movement that makes this work possible.
We also want to thank the other organizations, advocates, parents, and Californians who worked to oppose AB 2651. Many people were active in raising concerns about this bill, and we are grateful to everyone who stood in defense of families and freedom.
A California Victory Is a Message of Hope
As you know, winning in California is not easy. That is exactly why victories like this matter so much. When a bill that threatens health freedom, parental rights, or privacy can be stopped in California, it should give people across the country hope.
You can organize, educate, mobilize, speak up, advocate. And you can win.
Whether you live in California or another state, never underestimate what an informed, passionate, and activated united community can accomplish.
AB 2651 is dead. Today, we celebrate. Tomorrow, we keep fighting.
Thank you for standing with PERK and for being a partner in protecting parental rights, medical freedom, privacy, and our children.
With gratitude,
Amy Bohn
President, PERK
Here’s our video breaking down the AB2651 victory!
YOUR ACTION MAKES A DIFFERENCE.
Stay connected to PERK alerts and action campaigns so that when the next bill threatens our freedoms, we are ready.
