2021 Winter Newsletter
They were trying to frighten us, thinking, “their hands will get too weak for the work, and it will not be completed. But I prayed, now strengthen my hands.” – Neh 6:9
A Freshening
In the last five years, and since its founding in December 0f 2017, CAPC has overcome hurdles and accomplished many goals. With 2020 behind us, CAPC is also turning a new page of leadership. We are pleased to share that Marie Leatherby from Sacramento Life Center will step into leadership as President. Marie has served the Pregnancy Center mission in the Sacramento area since 2011, and is a founding member of CAPC from the beginning. The success of the Alliance requires more than leadership of vision of one person. The Board is designed to be representative of each region of our State.
Marie Leatherby – Sacramento
Cary Wilcox – Sacramento
Kristi Burkhart – Fresno
Zonya Townsend – Orange County
Josh McClure – San Diego
We are looking for Executive Directors who want to help lead our efforts and represent their region on our board. The strength of this movement is every center’s voice being lifted in Sacramento and wherever else it is needed in this State. Join or renew your membership with CAPC by visiting www.calalliance.org contact one of our board members if you are interested in joining our board.
Goals for 2021
The capital building is currently closed to the public during COVID – 19 responses. When they open again, CAPC is poised to lobby there with the help of California Family Council and other friends. This effort has two objectives. First, an information and awareness campaign to promote the good work our movement is doing. CAPC has developed marketing materials to share with legislators about our movement in California. These materials will be presented in unison with a custom report for California generated by Charlotte Lozier Institute. Additionally, we shared last year that we learned Planned Parenthood had produced signs for the office doors of legislators in Sacramento. We have produced some of our own. Our message is simple, “Pregnancy Centers are offering quality ongoing support and care for women to welcome their children into our communities.”
The second objective of our lobbying effort is to get a proclamation passed recognizing the good work of our movement. The focus of this proclamation is to show the areas where all Californians can be proud of the work we do!
CAPC is looking for a new volunteer Executive Director. Clare Venegus took a position at Dallas Theological Seminary, and sadly could not continue her work with us. If you know someone who is great with details, and has a passion for our movement… and lives in California, please take a look at the job description available for download here.
Lastly, our goal is for CAPC to grow in members to increase to volume of our voice. We have 165 Pregnancy Centers across the State. We are the premier organization in our community offering hope, support, resources and help to vulnerable people making decisions about their reproductive health out of fear! We need to speak the truth about our movement so we are not defined by our competition, whom we know is not being truthful or charitable. AB775 was drafted by those opponents and was passed because there was no voice loud enough to suggest it was based on a lie! NEVER AGAIN!!! Join CAPC!
Details To Be Aware Of
- California Employers with 5 or more employees must now provide a one-hour interactive sexual harassment training to all employees every two years, and within six months of hiring. Supervisors must complete a two-hour course. This is not a course we can simply provide inhouse and add to our regular trainings. Certifications must be furnished for completion by a recognized HR professional, or an approved organization. Trainings must meet the State’s content and methodology guidelines to be approved. For this purpose an employee is any paid employee regardless of status (temp, part-time, full time, exempt or non-exempt). Volunteers are not considered employees for this rule. All employers must have complied by the end of 2020. For more information about this requirement, check out the FAQ page on the DFEH webpage. California offers a free course online Understand that this training is representative of California’s objectives for sexual preference, practice, and expression. Religiously organized non-profits are not exempt from this training; however, we can provide additional information to explain where the law is limited due to First Amendment protections. Religious non-profits are allowed to discriminate when it comes to employee religious practice, including sexual activity. This is especially true for organizations that advocate for sexual preference, practice and expression according to religious belief. NIFLA has encouraged us to make clear distinctions in job descriptions, policies & procedures, and organizational documents to this end.
- 2021 California Director’s Conference will be July 29th & July 30th in Bakersfield CA.
- COVID-19 Vaccination is in the process of distribution. The State is currently in phase A1 of distribution. Licensed Primary Care Clinic staff and volunteers may get vaccinated when the State begins phase B1 – Tier 2. Staff and volunteers of non-medical Pregnancy Centers are included as “Occupational risk of exposure to SARS-CoV-2” in phase B3 in descending order by age. CalOSHA requires Primary Care Clinics to make vaccination available to employees (volunteers included in CalOSHA) with occupational exposure as soon as the CDC recommends it. Your medical director will have to determine who has occupational exposure. There is currently no mandate that employees with occupational exposure to receive the vaccine. For those that do not want the vaccine, it would be wise to have them sign a notice of declination. Additionally for those that want the vaccine, it has been suggested that a letter on your letterhead indicating they are an employee and how they land in the State’s phased distribution process.
There are two vaccines available in the US currently, but more are in development. We have had a lot of questions and concerns about the vaccine and if they are ethically produced. Operation Warp Speed made funds available to all the biotech companies to get a vaccine produced quickly using as many different methods as possible! It should be noted that trials for these vaccines happened very rapidly, with smaller sample sizes, and were not focused on women who are pregnant, or breastfeeding. The CDC has recommendations for women who are pregnant or breastfeeding. In short the “experts” say it is unlikely to be a risk for pregnant or breastfeeding women to receive the vaccine. But the actual risks are unknown at this time. It would be good to discuss with your medical director for recommendations to your clients. If your center is not medical, use CDC guidelines or seek out what your national affiliate is recommending.
All the development of vaccines are centered around how to train the immune system to recognize the spike proteins outside the Corona Virus. Side effects can occur but are not expected to be different for pregnant women. Each biotech company chose different ways to do that. Operation Warp Speed has also indemnified the pharmaceutical companies from being prosecuted for severe side effects. Here are some details on many of these vaccines.
Moderna & Pfizer/BioNTech: vaccines are the first to be approved by the FDA in the US. They are produced using a new vaccine technology. The vaccine contains mRNA (messenger RNA) that attaches to the RNA in healthy cells to produce “spike proteins”. These spike proteins are the same ones on the surface of COVID-19 virus. The human immune system is trained to recognize the spike proteins and attack any cell that has them. The mRNA are wrapped in a lipid (fat) particle. Human fetal stem cell line HEK-293 was used to produce spike proteins in early phases of research by both companies, but were not used to produce the vaccine. Moderna’s vaccine is 94% effective and Pfizer’s is 95% effective. Both vaccines are unstable and must be stored at very low temperatures. They are administered in two doses that are 21 days apart.
The Charlotte Lozier Institute has determined these two vaccines are ethically produced. This new mRNA vaccine technology has great promise for moving the vaccine producing pharmaceutical companies away from the unethical use of aborted human fetal stem cells that have been used since the 60’s. The COVID-19 vaccine is the first approved vaccine of this kind. Since it is very new technology it is difficult to know the long term outcomes of its use.
AstraZenica / Oxford: vaccine contains adenovirus with encoded DNA inside. It is reportedly 90% effective. To understand how the AstraZenica vaccine works, check out this article from the NY Times. The AstraZenica vaccine is preferred in the medical field because it does not require refrigeration, and is generally less fragile since it uses DNA rather than RNA. Adenovirus vaccines are a well known therapy for promoting immunity. It should be noted that to produce the AstraZenica vaccine, large quantities of adenovirus must be produced. This is done using human fetal kidney cells labeled HEK-295. The vaccine itself does not “contain aborted baby cells.” But the Adenovirus cells were produced by infection large quantities of “immortal cells” (HEK-295) from an aborted baby. This vaccine is close to approval by the FDA, and has already been approved in the UK and Mexico.
CanSino Biologics: vaccine contains adenovirus with encoded DNA inside. Immortal fetal Stem cells (HEK-295) is used to replicate the adenovirus. This vaccine is approved in 10 countries an is reported to have 86% effectiveness, however Chile has suspended its use due to reported issues with transparency. This vaccine is produced in China and is not a part of Operation Warp Speed. This vaccine will likely never be presented to the FDA for approval in the US.
Janssen Research / Johnson & Johnson: vaccine contains adenovirus with encoded DNA inside. Immortal fetal stem cells from (PER.C6) a Johnson and Johnson proprietary aborted fetal cell line derived from an 18 week aborted fetus’ retina cells in 1985. This vaccine is part of Operation Warp Speed, and has been submitted for emergency authorization by the FDA.
Immunity Bio / NantKwest: vaccine contains adenovirus with encoded DNA inside. The Adenovirus is grown in immortal fetal stem cell line (HEK-295). The DNA inside teaches the host cell to produce spike protein and proteins called capsids (membrane) that are then attacked by the immune system. This vaccine has entered phase 2 trials in December 2020. It is an oral capsule and can be stored at room temperature.
Novavax & Sanofi / GlaxoSmithKline: vaccine contains fragments of COVID-19 produced in insect cells. These fragments are directly injected for the immune system to attack. This vaccine technology has been employed to produce flu shots for many years. These vaccines do not utilize human fetal stem cells, and are considered ethically produced. The Novavax vaccine was reported to have entered phase 3 of trials in December 2020. Development by Sanofi / GSK has hit a snag, and is not expected to be ready until the end of 2021.
Alternatives to unethical fetal stem cell vaccination for COVID-19 is encouraging. Every attempt to avoid vaccines produced using aborted fetal cells should be employed. Moderna and Pfizer vaccines are available now, and are derived ethically. Weighing the risk of using this new technology is a highly personal decision. For more on the moral paradox of vaccines derived from aborted fetuses, consider this blog article written in 2015 by Josh McClure. Fortunately the Novavax vaccine may be ready for FDA approval soon, and would address a lot of the concerns people have.
CAPC does not support an effort to mandate a COVID-19 vaccine.