By Jacob Hall – The Iowa Standard
The Iowa Senate passed a bill on Monday that simply strengthens already existing Iowa law. Senate File 2196 requires schools to include information on exemptions for vaccinations on any communication from a school that contains information on immunizations.
“No shots, no school — this is a lie,” said Republican State Sen. Jesse Green. “(Senate File 2196) does not create any new exemptions, it only provides more transparency to ensure that families know exemptions are available under certain circumstances.”
Democrat State Sen. Molly Donahue spoke in opposition to the bill.
“When we’re talking about immunizations, we’re talking about childhood diseases that are curable with immunization,” she said. “We don’t need the schools to have yet another mandate for them to have to deal with for this particular area. The schools are not versed in medical information to provide families with accurate medical advice beyond passing out that paperwork. Families should be getting this from their personal doctors, not from the schools.”
Green said throughout debate on the bill, the only pushback he has received is people are afraid it will increase vaccine hesitancy. Other than that, he hasn’t heard any criticism.
The bill passed 31-15 on a party-line vote. It moves to the Iowa House of Representatives.