On Tuesday, September 30th, the elders held a briefing on Washington’s HB 1531 and the cascade of health‑policy bills that have followed it. They walked us through the bill’s core language—requiring the state to educate the public about vaccines, to enforce disease‑control measures, and to override any local rules that conflict with those mandates—essentially creating an emergency‑powers framework that can sideline parental consent. The discussion showed how, over the past decade, a series of statutes (from HB 1661 to the recent COVID‑19 standing order) has steadily expanded state authority over parenting, schooling, and medical decisions, even allowing “mature‑minor” or school‑staff consent without parental oversight. In short, the evening called us to view this issue as both a civic and a spiritual battle.

Additional Context from the Conservative Ladies of Washington