(NewsNation) — Florida announced this week its intention to scrap all childhood vaccine requirements, a move many have branded as the first in the nation. But was it?
In April, Idaho lawmakers passed the so-called “medical freedom” bill, banning “medical intervention” — including vaccines, medication or procedures — as a prerequisite for schools and other facilities.
The law took effect in July, effectively preventing students and business customers from being turned away because they haven’t received vaccines or been treated in any way to “alter the health or biological function of a person.”
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According to the legislation, the policy is subject to preexisting school requirements — like turning away contagious students — and a spokesperson for the governor told the Idaho Statesman in April that day cares would still be able to require vaccines under the new law.
But the legislation, along with a separate law strengthening “parental rights,” could leave the door open for guardians to undermine the state’s vaccine requirements.
“That is the beginning of an era of vaccine mandate policy and litigation that I’m really concerned about,” Richard Hughes, a professor of vaccine law at George Washington University, told Axios.
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The Idaho legislation is less sweeping than that in Florida, which explicitly drops all required vaccine mandates for children, including those required for school attendance, such as polio, diphtheria, rubeola, rubella, pertussis, mumps and tetanus.
In the 2023-24 school year, Idaho had the highest rate of kindergartners with vaccine exemptions in the nation, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
