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Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds was a hero early Thursday morning when she signed legislation to prohibit Iowa schools from being able to require masks. But by Thursday night, many of the Iowans who applauded the mask mandate bill were disappointed to see the bill that only limited the use of COVID vaccine passport bill signed.

Before we get too far into the story, recognize that according to legislators, this was the best they could do. It may be true, it may not be true. We’ll never know since nobody’s feet were held to the fire and no public vote was taken on a bill that offered stronger protections for Iowans. By that, I mean a bill that provided Iowans protection everywhere, all of the time.

The bill that did pass does the following:

GOOD: Prohibits government entities from issuing and utilizing COVID vaccine passports.

OK: Takes away any state grants or funding from private businesses that utilize COVID vaccine passports.

BAD: Allows health care facilities to utilize COVID vaccine passports.

REALLY BAD: Provides zero protection for employees when it comes to COVID vaccine passports.

“This bill will permit the medical industry to infringe on privacy and discriminate against citizens seeking treatment or visiting a loved one,” said Informed Choice Iowa, the state’s largest medical freedom activist group. “Codifying that is a bigger threat than vaccine passports as it could set the precedent for future laws or be utilized against Iowans who wish to sue these facilities for violating their medical, religious or privacy rights.”

Informed Choice Iowa encouraged Iowans who experience discrimination or denial of care to forward their complaints to:

[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]

We’ve already seen Iowa employers tell employees their ability to work without a mask is contingent upon their ability to prove they are fully vaccinated. We’ve already heard of a health care provider who has refused to see a patient due to the patient not being vaccinated for COVID-19 (this person doesn’t want their story made public and the doctor’s office denies it).

Some media outlets are reporting the bill bans COVID vaccine passports. That is irresponsible reporting and inaccurate. It does no such thing. It bans them in certain situations, punishes the use of them in others and allows them in others.

The bill accomplishes some good. But it also leaves the door open to plenty of bad.

For some, the “some good” may be worth the door being left open to “some bad.” To others, it is not.

Full disclosure, I consider Informed Choice Iowa to be pretty well-versed on issues of medical freedom. No organization in Iowa cares more passionately about this issue than them.

And if they see problems with the legislation, there must be problems with the legislation.

Just like if Iowa Firearms Coalition saw problems with gun legislation or Iowans For LIFE or Personhood Iowa saw problems with pro-life legislation. Or if Iowans for Tax Relief saw problems with tax legislation. Or if Americans For Prosperity saw problems with legislation involving regulations.

You probably get the point.

If the people who champion an issue most are the most disappointed with legislation, it’s probably worth reflecting why.

Doesn’t mean you have to agree, but at least consider the reasons.

We will see if this legislation is “good enough” or if more has to be done down the road. Unfortunately, there is no way of knowing how many people will be harmed due to the amount of time it will take for either litigation or legislation to fix the flaws this legislation left open.

Let’s hope for the best.

Author: Jacob Hall

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