Republican State Representatives Steve Bradley and Carter Nordman approved House File 35 during a subcommittee hearing on Thursday. The bill would require colleges to find a clinical rotation that allows students to refuse the COVID shot if a student does not want to receive it.
Seth Brown of the Iowa Medical Society said the group is undecided on the legislation but noted that it is “largely in practice.” He added that he isn’t sure the bill is necessary.
Dan Twelmeyer, an Iowa resident, spoke in support of amending the bill so that it would include the flu shot. Twelmeyer said two of his three daughters decided to go into the nursing profession.
“I hear people say, ‘Oh, that’s great.’ And while it is, I love that their nurses and I hate that their nurses,” he said.
Twelmeyer said one of his daughters was coerced into taking a COVID shot in 2021, which prompted him to alert the rest of his family to consult him first.
“This would be a good thing to do maybe three years ago,” he said. “But now there’s other things that you guys should be addressing. This should not be happening. We shouldn’t even be having this conversation right now.”
His daughter attended Northwestern College in Orange City. For three years in a row, students were told about the COVID shots and given an option to be exempt. But that same option was not provided for the flu shot.
“This is where we need to add all – all – anything that is injected they need to have bodily autonomy,” Twelmeyer said. “They were required to get the flu shot.”
Last fall, his daughter’s friend and classmate had to file a civil rights complaint against Northwestern for refusing to honor a religious exemption for the flu shot. The student was denied her religious freedom from the flu shot.
Students were stuck in the middle because it is an employer issue, Twelmeyer said. Employers are allowed to deny exemptions, which he added should be fixed in Iowa law.
“This is not freedom,” he said. “We need to reclaim our freedom in this regard by repealing the code so we don’t have to walk through this. This is not just the COVID-19 shot, it is the flu shot.”
Iowans can be fired for not receiving vaccines, but have to be paid unemployment, he said. The student, though, was stuck not just not receiving unemployment since she wasn’t an employee, but also had to pay for another year of college since she couldn’t finish her clinicals.
“I think that we need to add all of the shots and I think primarily we need to repeal code and then, beyond that, because the next thing is coming, we need to look at pulling the governor’s emergency powers because it’s all a trickle-down effect.”
April O’Tool of Informed Choice Iowa also said the group would like to see the flu shot added to the bill.
Oliver Bardwell spoke in favor the bill, noting that nurses are the “backbone” of the healthcare system and yet continue to face challenges including restrictive mandates that limit their opportunities and threaten the future of the profession.
The issue hits home for him, he added, saying that he has a daughter who dreams of becoming a nurse.
“I want to make sure as a father that she has a clear path to do that,” he said.
Democrat Rep. Timi Brown-Powers said she works for MercyOne and her colleagues do not have to get the COVID shot. She claimed that UnityPoint has the same policy.
“I don’t know what we can do for private businesses,” she said. “I don’t know how far we can reach in and tell private businesses what we can and can’t do.”
Nordman said while it sounds like it is happening for the most part, he’ll sign it out of subcommittee to continue the conversation.
My daughter is an RN and she was threatened into taking the bioweapon or lose her job. She did but had no idea how bad they were. She did quit her job a year ago. Such a burnout job. I would rather scrub toilets myself. She probably would ,too, but she is taking a couple years off. I don’t think that she is interested in returning to nursing again, ever.
Nobody should have to take anything that they don’t want. I don’t need a politicians permission slip. either. No one has any right to our body except an unborn baby. They have a right to live just like everyone else. Those are God’s precious gifts to us and should be treated as such.