JEFFERSON CITY – Missouri’s 122nd District State Representative Bill Hardwick (R-Waynesville) has filed legislation that will strengthen the right of all Missourians to refuse medical treatments which will include the COVID vaccine.
If passed, the legislation will prevent the state or any local government in Missouri from requiring anyone to receive the COVID 19 vaccination.
HB 1686 would make any directive by any government official to receive the COVID vaccine in Missouri unlawful.
“This bill will mean that no school district can require a child to take the COVID vaccine in order to be in the classroom. Parents will not have to choose between giving their child a shot they may have concerns about, or their child being forced to learn from home. It will mean no police officer, no state, county, or city employees will have to make the choice between their jobs and getting a vaccine they don’t want for whatever reason they may have,” said Hardwick.
For those working for private employers, HB 1686 will prevent inquisitions into a person’s personal religious beliefs or their personal medical circumstances. Exemption requests from employees, including those in companies that are currently being targeted by the Biden Administration, would be granted broadly and without question. This legislation also creates an objection of conscience provision so that nonreligious Missourians or those who do not want to claim a religious reason for not wanting the vaccine may still receive an exemption.
“Your body does not belong to the government and it does not belong to a corporation. You are the one that should decide if you want the COVID vaccine, that is your decision to make, not someone else’s. When we are talking about children, it should be up to that child’s parents and them alone. Each person should be a free human being who makes their own medical decisions. A person should have individual rights which cannot be violated by another person, among those is the right to informed consent,” concluded Representative Hardwick.
HB 1686 was pre-filed on December 1st and now awaits committee assignment by the Speaker of the House. The 2nd Regular Session of the 101st General Assembly will convene on January 5th, 2022.