Texas could make it easier for parents to opt out of vaccines for their children. The Texas House has passed HB 1586, sponsored by Rep. Lacey Hull (R-Houston). It would make the parental vaccine exemption form downloadable online. Under current law, parents must request the form and have it mailed to them before returning it. The bill would not change any of the requirements for granting an exemption, including having the form notarized before it is returned.
Democrats opposed the bill, claiming it will lead to lower vaccination rates among Texas children. But Hull said this is only about making the form easier to access and modernizing the process. For advocates like Dr. Mary Talley Bowden, founder of Americans for Health Freedom, this bill is a step in the right direction. "Medical mandates, including forcing children to get a vaccine to go to school, violate the fundamental principle of bodily autonomy," she tells KTRH. "And anything we can do to allow patients to exercise their right to bodily autonomy, I am in strong favor of."
Bowden, who has had a long battle with the Texas Medical Board over her outspoken support of medical freedom, believes this is ultimately about empowering parents. "What we learned during the pandemic is it's really on the individual to do their research about vaccines, and thanks to free speech and the internet, parents now have more access to this information than they used to," she says. "But ultimately, this is up to the parents, not the state of Texas."
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