As waves of states continue to push for legislation that would eradicate parental liberty and informed consent with regard to the decision to vaccinate, South Dakota has introduced a bill that would make it a crime for any school staff, medical professional, or other individual to compel anyone to receive a vaccine.
Effectively striking the state’s immunization requirements for schoolchildren from the law, House Bill 1235 would essentially prohibit schools from discriminating against anyone who refuses any or all vaccines for personal, medical, or religious reasons.
Under current South Dakota law, children attending early childhood programs or public school “shall, prior to admission, be required to present to the appropriate school authorities certification from a licensed physician that the child has received or is in the process of receiving adequate immunization against poliomyelitis, diphtheria, pertussis, rubeola, rubella, mumps, tetanus, and varicella, according to recommendations provided by the Department of Health.”
Students entering any private or public college are required to provide proof of receiving at least two doses of the vaccine for measles, mumps, and rubella.
South Dakotan children who are missing any of the required vaccinations may only receive medical or religious exemptions, rather than philosophical exemptions, in order to attend school.
If HB 1235 were passed into law, however, public or nonpublic post-secondary educational institutions would no longer be able to “mandate any immunizations for school entry. A public or private post secondary educational institution may request any student to submit medical records. No educational institution may use coercive means to require immunization.”
The bill would allow for the Department of Health to “recommend any immunization for school entry,” but it cannot require them.
An attempt by “any educational institution, medical provider, or person to compel another to submit to immunization” would be a Class 1 misdemeanor, according to the bill text.
“Every person has the inalienable right to bodily integrity, free from any threat or compulsion that the person accepts any medical intervention, including immunization,” reads the bill, sponsored by Rep. Lee Qualm, (R-Platte). “No person may be discriminated against for refusal to accept an unwanted medical intervention, including immunization.”
Amen!!
While there are potential merits or concerns with vaccination that we have discussed in the past, they are irrelevant to the issue of liberty.
We hold fast to the incontrovertible fact that no individual should have undue rights over the body of another individual or their child. If we believe this fundamental truth regarding issues like abortion, in which the abortion-minded mother believes she is exercising her own bodily autonomy when she is really violating the bodily autonomy of her child (and violently so, we should affirm this same principle regarding vaccination.
Every parent must make the informed decision whether or not some or all vaccinations are right for their child. If that decision is made in cooperation with a respectful, trusted family doctor, fantastic. There is no room in that decision-making process, however, for a government agent of the public school or the health department who has no compelling interest in the health and safety of that child.
It is a gross overstep of government and the ultimate expression of tyranny to grant itself the privilege to determine what goes into the inviolate body of each individual.
If you are a South Dakotan, reach out to your state representatives now and urge them to support HB 1235! If you are outside of South Dakota and have built a rapport with your state legislators, which you should, reach out to them and ask them to consider drafting similar legislation in your state.
Let’s fight back against this wave of medical tyranny!
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