No Shots, No School - Not True! Students Do Not Have to Be Vaccinated to Attend ANY Louisiana School
Louisiana's vaccine exemption law has been in place for decades, but here's the 411 on the three new laws that go into effect on August 1, 2024.
Parents and students, it’s that time of year again! The following is a primer on the state’s vaccine law, including the three new sections that will go into effect on August 1, 2024, and apply to ALL Louisiana “elementary and secondary schools, kindergartens, colleges, universities, proprietary schools, vocational schools, and licensed daycare centers.”
Know your rights and protect your freedom!
Revised Statute 17:170, the Louisiana statute governing vaccine requirements for school attendance, has been in place for decades. Most people today have an inaccurate interpretation of R.S. 17:170, believing it compels parents to vaccinate their children or they will be denied school entry when, in fact, the law is simply asking for information from parents: proof of immunization. It is essential to put R.S. 17:170 in its proper posture. Read section A.(1)(a) below.
A.(1)(a) Each person entering any school within the state for the first time, including elementary and secondary schools, kindergartens, colleges, universities, proprietary schools, vocational schools, and licensed day care centers, at the time of registration or entry shall present satisfactory evidence of immunity to or immunization against vaccine-preventable diseases according to a schedule approved by the office of public health, Louisiana Department of Health, or shall present evidence of an immunization program in progress.
R.S. 17:170 is not compelling vaccination, rather it is asking for specific information about a child’s medical history. Why is this an important distinction to make? The state is a respecter of rights, especially parental rights. Louisiana Children’s Code acknowledges that parents have “the paramount right to raise their children in accordance with their own values and traditions; that parents should make the decisions regarding where and with whom the child shall reside, the educational, moral, ethical, and religious training of the child, the medical, psychiatric, surgical, and preventive health care of the child…” Compelling a medical intervention would directly conflict with the moral tenets outlined in the Children’s Code regarding the importance of parents in a child’s life.
Additionally, Section E of R.S. 17:170 as well as Section (B)(1) of R.S. 17:170.4 (regarding the meningococcal vaccine) are nods to the right to privacy afforded Louisianans in Article 1, Section 5 of the Louisiana Constitution, which state that parents and students may simply dissent from providing medical information.
E. No person seeking to enter any school or facility enumerated in Subsection A of this Section shall be required to comply with the provisions of this Section if the student or his parent or guardian submits either a written statement from a physician stating that the procedure is contraindicated for medical reasons, or a written dissent from the student or his parent or guardian is presented.
Schools across the state have completely misinterpreted the law. They are compelling parents to have their children undergo medical treatment by stating the child will be unable to attend school otherwise. Take a look at the message sent by Ruston High School just this week.
Ruston High School (and many other schools like it) has created its own policy by completely ignoring the section of the law which states parents can opt out of providing private medical information with a written dissent.
Thus the importance of Representative Kathy Edmonston’s legislation, HB47, signed into law by Governor Jeff Landry on June 19th, which requires schools to inform parents of their rights under the law.
Beginning August 1, 2024, all schools will be required to inform parents or students that they can opt out of providing the student’s immunization information per R.S. 17:170(E).
HFL recommends that you opt out of providing the student’s immunization information whether or not the student has been vaccinated. It is private medical information that should not be shared.
Not sharing vaccine information should be the norm.
Why?
Covid brought to the fore many societal biases aimed at those who choose not to vaccinate for whatever reason, which is why Rep Beryl Amedee’s legislation, HB908, signed into law on June 19th, is so vital. Also going into effect on August 1, 2024, HB908 prevents all Louisiana schools from discriminating against a student who submits an exemption.
Lastly, it is important to remember that no school, whether public or nonpublic, can request more information about a student’s vaccination history than what the state allows unless approved by the Louisiana Department of Health (LDH). While the state never passed a law requiring covid vaccination, previous leadership at LDH did approve universities across the state as well as 86 K-12 schools in New Orleans to add covid vaccination to the list of information requested. Rep Edmonston’s HB46 prohibits all Louisiana schools from requiring proof of covid vaccination for school attendance.
HFL has argued from the outset that covid does not fulfill the statutory requirement of a “vaccine-preventable disease,” and recently the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals came to the same conclusion in the ruling against Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) in the appeal filed by Health Freedom Defense Fund (HFDF).
From HFDF:
The majority, however, noted that HFDF had alleged in the lawsuit that the Covid jabs are not “traditional” vaccines because they do not prevent the spread of Covid-19 but only purport to mitigate Covid symptoms in the recipient. This, HFDF had alleged in its complaint, makes the Covid jab a medical treatment, not a vaccine.
The court recognized that mitigating symptoms rather than preventing the spread of disease “distinguishes Jacobson, thus presenting a different government interest.” Based on this reasoning, the majority disapproved the trial court’s contention that, even if the jabs do not prevent the spread, “Jacobson still dictates that the vaccine mandate is subject to, and survives, the rational basis test.”
The courts are finally catching up with us! And the legislature too!
We cannot thank you enough for your support as it has taken years for some of these laws to get passed. Please share this article with family and friends so they can be armed with this information about the three new laws that go into effect on August 1, 2024.
Remember: No student has to be vaccinated to attend ANY Louisiana school.
Find exemption information and a sample exemption form at HealthFreedomLA.org.
All of these new laws will be found in R.S. 17:170 on August 1, 2024.
In case you missed our last article, here’s a reminder from Aaron Siri that not a single vaccine on the childhood schedule has undergone a randomized clinical controlled trial with an inert placebo. Aaron is hosting an X space today, July 30, at 11:00 am CST to discuss.
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