By Louis Chan
AsAmNews National Correspondent
(Editor’s Note: This post has been updated to include a response from Senator Moorlach)
After an awkward exchange before the California Senate Committee on Health, State Senator John Moorlach (R-Costa Mesa) has come up with an explanation for an acronym another senator said had an “ethnic or racial tinge to it.”
The acronym was panda, short for the Peaceful and Natural Dignity Act. It was a seemingly strange name for a bill that would give parents the right to not vaccinate their children and self-quarantine them in times of health emergencies.
“Where did the acronym Panda come from?” asked State Senator Josh Newman (D-Fullerton) during a committee meeting two weeks ago.
“Umm, that was from the sponsors, so I don’t really have a history of it,” said a flustered Moorlach.
“So the panda animal would seem to have very little to do with vaccinations, but it does seem to have an ethnic or racial tinge to it. It also includes the first three letters of my colleagues name. And I would see where one might take offense,” responded Newman.
That colleague is California State Senator Richard Pan (D-Sacramento), a pediatrician who has made increasing the vaccination rates of students one of his top priorities.
“I will be honest with you,” he said, “it has never crossed my mind. I never seen that this was done in that fashion. I’m kind of shocked,” Moorlach continued as his voice begins to tremble. “So forgive me, that was not the intention.”
“I hope you’re not shocked the reasoning is applied. But I’ll take you at your word,” said Newman.
“You kind of caught me off guard. If anything was meant to be personal, I apologize for that.”
You can see the entire four minute exchange here:
The Panda acronym is displayed prominently on Moorlach’s website to promote the bill.
After reading the AsAmNews article, a Moorlach staffer contacted AsAmNews offering a more detailed explanation.
He pointed to a blog by Moorlach where he goes on the counteroffensive:
“I had one of the more awkward moments while presenting a bill. SB 1325 used an existing ‘Act’ title. Rather than debate the actual policy in my bill, one of my Senate colleagues made it personal and proceeded to impugn my intentions where he actually presumed that I was being a racist toward an Asian Pacific Islander Caucus member, a charge that not only caught me off guard, but was highly inappropriate and regrettable.
“I met with both of them the following morning to dispose them of any untoward motives. Ironically, a few minutes after these two discussions, my grandson, Koa, was born. Koa would qualify as a member of the Asian Pacific Islander Caucus.
The Moorlach staffer says the Panda acronym actually was used in 2013 in a change.org petition opposing mandatory vaccinations. This was prior to Senator Pan introducing his mandatory vaccination bill in 2015. He says the Panda acronym is a play off the word pandemic.
At least on the surface, Pan and Moorlach have settled their differences.
Moorlach’s bill was unanimously defeated in the Health committee.
After the vote, Pan and Moorlach shook hands.
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RE: Senator called out for “racially tinged” acronym directed at Asian American legislator: Oh for the love of Mike! This is getting ridiculous! It was an acronym! Simple and pure. Asians are going to be known as having no sense at all and over reacting to silly stuff like this. This over sensitivity and making a mountain out of a mole hill is really embarrassing! Enough! And, I think parents should be able to choose whether to vaccinate or not.
RE: Senator Called Out for “Racially Tinged” acronym Directed at Asian American Legislator: Respectfully, Ms. Chan, you missed the real story here. Did you fact check for your article first? The notion of racism was simply a non-issue. The PANDA bill was originally authored and named the Peaceful and Natural Dignity Act (“PANDA”) in the year 2013 by Greg Glaser, JD, for the Pandemic Response Project. The original Change.org petition (from the year 2013) is still publicly available online.
So, PANDA was written and named by Glaser before virtually everyone in the health freedom community (including Glaser) had ever heard of Senator Pan. This is because the PANDA bill was written 1-year before Senator Pan gained notoriety by introducing California’s mandatory vaccination law SB277 (introduced in 2014).
When naming the PANDA bill in 2013, Glaser chose the panda bear analogy because, in his words, “The panda is a beautiful symbol of both peace and nature, especially given the legal protection pandas enjoy. As an endangered species they are afforded legal protection to exist in their own natural home habitat. So protecting pandas in their home is a good analogy for also protecting the right of peaceful humans to live naturally in our homes, even if there is a pandemic somewhere among the public outside.” https://vactruth.com/2018/04/24/racist-california-democratic-senators/
Moreover, “PANDAS” is also the well-known acronym for the prominent vaccine injury, “Pediatric Autoimmune Neuropsychiatric Disorder Associated with Streptococcus”.
I hope you’ll consider updating your article with all the facts.