According to The Defender, more Louisiana parents are opting out of standard childhood vaccines for their children before sending them back to school.
4WWL, a New Orleans CBS affiliate, said the “number of children starting school with vaccination exemptions has doubled.”
“Overall, vaccine exemptions — particularly for non-medical reasons, such as religious or philosophical concerns — across the U.S. are on the rise. In 2022-23, roughly 3% of all U.S. kindergartners had an exemption from one or more vaccines,” Children’s Health Defense stated.
💉 Record Number of Louisiana Parents Opt Out of Back-to-School Vaccines
Overall, vaccine exemptions — particularly for non-medical reasons, such as religious or philosophical concerns — across the U.S. are on the rise. In 2022-23, roughly 3% of all U.S. kindergartners had an… pic.twitter.com/yRDppM4y9a
— Children’s Health Defense (@ChildrensHD) August 20, 2024
4WWL reports:
According to data from the CDC, exemptions are still low. Less than 5 percent of children in Louisiana will go to school this year without their vaccines.
Tulane Health Economics Professor Charles Stoecker says that doesn’t eliminate the risk, and the numbers require some context.
“The numerically small increase cloaks a much larger problem,” Stoecker said.
New Louisiana laws give parents the right to opt out of standard vaccinations, so the number of unvaccinated students can vary widely from school to school.
“This is fantastic news!! More parents and students understand the law and are refusing to comply with the coercion,” Health Freedom Louisiana stated.
“NOLA . com demonstrates a clear misunderstanding of the law. The state cannot and does not compel you to vaccinate to attend school. The law is asking parents and college students to provide private medical information about the student’s immunization history. Lawmakers cannot pass legislation that violates Article I Section 5 of the Louisiana Constitution — The Right to Privacy — and therefore cannot compel any medical procedure nor can they compel you to hand over private ‘papers,'” the post continued.
“Parents and students, you are well within your rights to refuse to provide this information and you do NOT need a reason for doing so. Now, thanks to Beryl Amedee – State Representative no school can discriminate against students based on vaccination status. HFL encourages EVERY parent and college student to submit a ‘written dissent’ regardless your vaccination history. Do not comply,” it added.
📣 This is fantastic news!! More parents and students understand the law and are refusing to comply with the coercion. https://t.co/suHWUj32kd demonstrates a clear misunderstanding of the law. The state cannot and does not compel you to vaccinate to attend school. The law is… pic.twitter.com/UOsRqieA9I
— Health Freedom Louisiana (@HealthFreedomLA) August 19, 2024
The Defender reports:
Before this year, Louisiana law allowed parents to opt out of school immunization requirements as long as they presented their dissent in writing.
However, state lawmakers in 2024 passed two additional measures that amplify parents’ right to opt out of vaccine requirements for school attendance.
Act No. 674 states that students can’t be required to have a COVID-19 vaccine. Act No. 675 requires schools to include exemption information when communicating with families about vaccines. The new laws took effect Aug. 1.
Both new vaccine laws — authored by Rep. Kathy Edmonston and signed by Gov. Jeff Landry — were the result of pushback from previous COVID-19 pandemic mandates and restrictions, Shreveport Times reported.
Edmonston said during debate over the bills, “The intent of this bill is to stop mandates. … It doesn’t have anything to do with yay or nay on the vaccines; we just don’t want mandates.”
