The Good GOP Arguments; The Good DFL Votes
Below:
- The Vote on the Holberg Consent Amendment
- Photos of
Legislators during the Debate
- What they said...for
or against parent consent.
Please let your legislators know your thoughts about their votes...and their quotes: rep.firstname.lastname@house.mn
Republicans voting FOR consent
amendment: Abeler,
Anderson B, Anderson S, Beard, Brod, Buesgens, Cornish, Dean,
DeLaForest, Demmer, Dettmer, Drazkowski, Eastlund, Emmer, Erickson,
Finstad, Garofalo, Gottwalt, Gunther, Hackbarth, Heidgerken, Holberg,
Hoppe, Howes, Kohls, Lanning, Magnus, McFarlane, McNamara, Nornes,
Olson, Ozment, Paulsen, Peppin, Peterson, N, Ruth, Seifert, Severson,
Shimanski, Simpson, Smith, Tingelstad, Urdahl, Wardlow, Westrom,
Zellers.DFL Voting FOR consent amendment: Dill, Doty, Eken, Faust, Gardner, Greiling, Hilty, Juhnke, Koenen, Lesch, Lillie, Mariani, Marquart, Masin, Murphy, M, Otremba, Scalze, Ward
Not Voting: Hamilton (R)
Republicans Voting Against consent amendment: Berns, Erhardt
DFL Voting Against consent amendment: Anzelc, Atkins, Benson, Bigham, Bly, Brown, Brynaert, Bunn, Carlson, Clark, Davnie, Ditrich, Dominguez, Fritz, Hansen, Hausman, Haws, Hilstrom, Hornstein, Hortman, Hosch, Huntley, Jaros, Johnson, Kahn Kalin, Knuth, Dranz, Laine, Lenczewski, Liebling, Lieder, Loeffler, Madore, Mahoney, Moe, Morgan, Morrow, Mullery, Murphy, E, Nelson, Norton, Olin, Paymar, Pelowski, Peterson, A, Ptterson, S, Poppe, Rukavina, Ruud, Sailer, Seertich, Simon, Slawik, Slocum, Solberg, Swails, Thao, Thissen, Tillberry, Tschumper, Wagenius, Walker, Welti, Winkler, Wollschlager, Spkr Kelliher.
Rep. MaryLiz Holberg (leading
the charge for informed consent): My
concern is that the state of Minnesota has put together a database of
our youngest residents. They have the rights to it. They own it." 
Rep. Paul Thissen (author of
the bill): The studies
wouldn't be possible if the blood spots weren't stored because these
diseases are not identified till many years later...I understand the
concern about privacy, but....to go down the path of written consent in
any way, or an opt-in, will undermine our ability to proceed with this
very, very successful program."Rep. John Berns: "My wife and I were sleeping...We were awakened by our baby crying...It was a technician doing the test...The technician said..there were no options...that person didn't do it correctly." (RE: Oct 2006 incidence with 3rd baby in hospital)
Rep. Dettmer: "I trust parents to make the right decision...I think it's important we let the parents make that decision."
Rep. Tom Emmer (offering a second consent amendment): It is a very important privacy issue...This goes right to the heart of the rights of an individual...We got somebody whose out driving on the highway with a blood alcohol level above .08. What do we do? They get pulled over...Can we automatically get a sample of their blood. No. You have to get their consent.
Rep. Steve Drazkowski:
"Whose DNA is it? Does it belong to the family or does it belong to the
state? It's our responsibility to protect the freedoms of Minnesotans."Rep. Ryan Winkler (D): "The issue is about whether the rights of a parent to make a decision about genetic testing is more important than the right of a child to have a healthy life...Less testing means more death, more hearing loss, more growth failure...The issue is the parent's theoretical interest in privacy more important than the child's fundamental right to have a health outcome and a healthy life."
Rep. Steve Gottwalt: "The
first right is the right is the parent's right with their child. They
have the ultimate obligation. The parents have the right, not the
state, not the doctor, not the hospital. All we're asking is that we
get informed consent before things are being done....The
parents...deserve the opt-in, not the opt-out. We require more
information on that [opt-out] form than we require for people to vote
in this state."Rep. Paul Thissen(D): "Because more people opt-out...and in addition to do additional research on childhood diseases, for all those reasons if you require an opt in or a written consent, it undermines our ability to do those things."
Rep. Joyce Peppin: It's very difficult to even find the form...makes it very difficult for a parent to opt-out. Either have to go to a notory public or a medical professional to get a signature. Perhaps parents don't want to have to explain why they don't want to submit to this testing. My amendment is to simplify things."
Rep. Mark Olson: "It's not a state child. It's the parent's child."
Rep. Rob Eastlund:
Rep. Holberg's amendment is absolutely necessary! It took me over 15
min on the health department website to find an opt-out form."