Lawmakers respond to anti-vax bills – The Iola Register

TOPEKA —  Two Kansas Republican lawmakers joined a Democratic colleague Thursday to stress the safety and necessity of vaccines, in an attempt to stave off misinformation in the Statehouse.

Rep. Melissa Oropeza, D-Kansas City, Rep. John Eplee, R-Atchison, and Sen. Kristen O’Shea, R-Topeka, teamed up with the Immunize Kansas Coalition at a Statehouse rally, standing at a podium surrounded by signs on rubella, measles and and other vaccine-preventable diseases.

“Leave the status quo alone, it has worked well and it has served us well for 50 years,” Eplee, a physician, said. “We just need to send a message to all our colleagues both in the House and Senate to keep their mitts of the statutes, because they’re working.”