Des Moines, Iowa — (RI) — A bill that would have given Iowa parents another way to opt out of vaccinations for their children has failed to advance in the Iowa Senate.
Iowans may now obtain a religious exemption to required immunizations before students may be admitted to public schools or licensed daycares. The bill that failed a Senate subcommittee would have created a philosophical objection to vaccines as well. Pediatrician Dr. Nathan Boonstra says when it’s easier to get an exemption, more people get vaccine-preventable diseases.
Dozens of parents and their children crowded into a committee room in the Iowa capitol to signal their support of a new exemption. Many, including Sonya Swan of West Des Moines, wore stickers for the group Iowans for Informed Consent.
Megan Wisner, another member of Iowans for Informed Consent, says some of her relatives have had allergic reactions to vaccines.
Spencer farmer Randy Heikens, a father of three, says vaccines are unsafe.
Dr. Kate Linkenmeyer of Des Moines responded to that criticism.
Senator Tom Greene, a pharmacist from Burlington, was one of two senators on a three-member committee who defeated the bill.
A second bill related to vaccines was killed by a senate subcommittee Tuesday. The defeated bill would have banned hospitals and other health care providers from firing staff or rejecting patients who haven’t been immunized against infectious diseases.
