• Home
  • News
    • Politics & Government
    • Business & Economy
    • Crime / Courts
    • Health / Medicine
  • Sports
    • High School Sports
    • Radio Iowa Poll
  • Affiliates
    • Affiliate Support Page
  • Contact Us
    • Reporters

Radio Iowa

Iowa's Radio News Network

You are here: Home / News / Iowa bill would ban businesses from requiring employees get vaccinations

Iowa bill would ban businesses from requiring employees get vaccinations

February 17, 2021 By O. Kay Henderson

David Conway gets first COVID-19 vaccine in Iowa.

Two Republicans in the Iowa Senate have agreed to advance a bill that would prohibit Iowa businesses and health care facilities from requiring that employees get vaccinations.

A 97-minute-long subcommittee hearing on the bill was dominated by critics of vaccinations in general. Shanda Burke, a lobbyist for a group called Informed Choice Iowa, said she quit her job as a medical assistant because her employer required flu shots.

“No other health decisions are like that, you know, blood pressure, anything like that, it’s completely up to you between you and your doctor and not between you and your employer,” she said.

The bill also would let parents claim a conscientious objection to having their child meet vaccination requirements for school attendance. Medical groups oppose the bill. Lena Tucker Reinders, executive director of the Iowa Public Health Association, said social media posts are fueling vaccine hesitancy.

“Iowa’s vaccination rates are in decline at the same time that anti-vaccine advocacy in Iowa is increasing,” she said. “…The problem is that misinformation and false data can be shared with thousands with only a click.”

Dr. Amy Shriver, a Des Moines pediatrician, said bills that grant exceptions to vaccinations have a dramatic effect, “instilling more fear and letting that fear overcome the medical facts that we have about vaccine safety and efficacy.”

Senator Jim Carlin, a Republican from Sioux City who just announced he’s running for the U.S. Senate, chaired the hearing. He said there are “legitimate concerns” on both sides of the debate.

“The interests in businesses and health care facilities to have people vaccinated versus a person’s legitimate interest in having autonomy over their own body,” Carlin said.

Health insurance companies would be prohibited from denying coverage based on a lack of immunizations if the bill as currently written becomes law. The legislation has cleared a Senate subcommittee and is now eligible for consideration in the Senate Human Resources Committee.

Share this:

  • Facebook
  • Twitter

Filed Under: News, Politics / Govt Tagged With: Legislature

Featured Stories

Governor signs child care expansion into law

Iowa seniors have until July 1 to apply for new property tax break

Smoke from distant fires creates colorful sunrise in Iowa

DOT’s Motor Vehicle Enforcement Division to merge into State Patrol

Iowa’s governor approves liability limits for trucking industry

TwitterFacebook
Tweets by RadioIowa

Cameron Young to compete at the John Deere Classic

Radio Iowa/Baseball Coaches Association High School Poll 5/29/23

Iowa AD Gary Barta announces retirement

Iowa to visit Creighton in Gavitt Tipoff Games

Iowa and Indiana collide Thursday at B1G baseball tournament

More Sports

Archives

Copyright © 2023 ยท Learfield News & Ag, LLC