Michigan legislators are exploring new measures aimed at banning discrimination related to vaccination status, which may include incorporating vaccine status protections into the state’s civil rights act.
In a bold move, Republican State Rep. James DeSana is championing a series of bills aimed at safeguarding individuals from discrimination tied to their vaccination status. This legislative effort seeks to block sweeping vaccine mandates imposed by state and local authorities, employers, and educational institutions, encompassing both schools and colleges.
New legislation introduces specific exemptions for vaccine mandates, particularly aimed at healthcare and nursery professionals.
“This would just bring Michigan up into the group of states that are now declaring that people who want to choose not to get vaccinated should have that right universal throughout society,” DeSana said.
Dr. Teena Chopra, a professor of infectious diseases at Wayne State University, emphasises the importance of vaccination as a duty to the community. “These bills threaten public health, and I also think that they put vulnerable individuals at risk,” she said.
DeSana’s proposals emerge amid the rising momentum of the vaccine choice movement nationwide, now bolstered by the endorsement of the country’s leading health authority, Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
“We’re trying to decipher a path here that educates people but also puts some balance back into this so that we never have a situation again where people are being threatened if they don’t disclose their vaccine status, or where people are fearful of someone finding out that they’re unvaccinated,” DeSana explained.
Dr. Chopra, director of the Centre for Emerging and Infectious Diseases at Wayne State, highlighted that the movement surrounding vaccine choices is complicating the efforts of public health officials.
“It’s very scary because it has taken years and years of work to establish vaccine policies, and they stand on evidence,” she said.
Dr. Chopra emphasised, “When we weaken our mandates, it can lead to outbreaks. It can lead to increased hospitalizations.”
The three bills are presently under review in the State House committee.
