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| Date: From: Subject: | 6/23/2004 10:28:41 AM Home School Legal Defense Association Pennsylvania--Calls Needed to Stop Expansion of Health Service Requirements |
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====================================================================== From the HSLDA E-lert Service... ====================================================================== June 23, 2004 Pennsylvania--Calls Needed to Stop Expansion of Health Service Requirements Dear HSLDA members and friends: Your calls are needed to stop a bill which would add yet another health service requirement for homeschool students. House Bill 2673 would require all children of school age to be screened for diabetes at such intervals established by the Advisory Health Board. Based upon medical advice obtained by HSLDA, we do not believe this test requiring a blood sample from the child is necessary. This test would be more invasive than any other test now required of school children. Further, this screening would impose an additional medical expense on homeschooling families. Introduced by Representative Melissa Murphy Weber (R, District 148) on June 8, 2004, and co-sponsored by 29 other members of the House of Representatives, this bill is now in the House Education Committee. It should be stopped before it gains any more momentum. REQUESTED ACTION Please call Representative Jess Stairs, Chairman of the House Education Committee, and as many members of the Committee as possible with this message: "Please oppose HB 2673. Screening for diabetes is an unnecessary and expensive test for school students. Parents in consultation with their family physician should decide when such tests are necessary." You do not need to identify yourself as a homeschooler. Representative Jess Stairs - 717-783-9311 You can find phone numbers and email addresses for the Committee members at the following page on the Pennsylvania Legislature website: http://www.hslda.org/elink.asp?ID=1651 To review the text of House Bill 2673, go to: http://www.hslda.org/elink.asp?ID=1652 BACKGROUND Pennsylvania law governing home education programs, Section 13-1327.1 of Pennsylvania Statutes Annotated, requires homeschool students to receive the same health and medical services required of other students of the child's age and grade level. Section 1402 of the Public School Code requires each child to have a vision test, a hearing test, a measurement of height and weight, tests for tuberculosis and "such other tests as the Advisory Health Board may deem advisable to protect the health of the child." Additionally, a medical examination and comprehensive appraisal of the health of every child is required at certain grade levels. It is noteworthy that the Advisory Health Board made up of medical professionals has not determined that diabetes screening is advisable for school children. Juvenile diabetes, also known as Type I diabetes, occurs in only .6% of the population in the United States. That's less than 1% of Americans, hardly a basis to screen the entire student population of Pennsylvania for the disease. We believe that parents in consultation with medical professionals, not lawmakers, should decide what diagnostic tests are appropriate for their children. This bill is a bad idea. Let's stop it in its tracks. Sincerely, Dewitt T. Black, III Senior Counsel Home School Legal Defense Association ---------------------------------------------------------------------- -> Can you call your attorney at 2 a.m. on Sunday morning? Our members can get in touch with their attorney even after business hours, when they have a legal emergency. Wouldn't you like this level of protection? 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Thank you for your cooperation. ====================================================================== | |
