(C) South Dakota Searchlight
This story was originally published by South Dakota Searchlight and is unaltered.
. . . . . . . . . .



Vaccine ‘conscience exemption’ bill fails in SD House • South Dakota Searchlight [1]

['Makenzie Huber', 'Joshua Haiar', 'Seth Tupper', 'More From Author', '- February', '.Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Coauthors.Is-Layout-Flow', 'Class', 'Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus', 'Display Inline', '.Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Avatar']

Date: 2025-02

The South Dakota House of Representatives voted 36-34 Wednesday at the Capitol in Pierre to defeat a bill that would allow residents to exercise a “conscience exemption” from genetic-based vaccinations during a public health emergency. An attempt to revive the bill on Thursday failed.

The legislation, introduced by Sioux Falls Republican Rep. Bobbi Andera, was amended to prohibit businesses, governments and public accommodations from denying employment, services or entry to a building for an unvaccinated person who asserted a “conscience exemption.” The amendment removed individual residents from the list of entities who could not deny a conscience exemption. It also cut a proposed penalty for violations.

“They must make reasonable accommodations as they would with religious or medical exemptions,” Andera said.

The exemptions would not have applied to required school immunizations or health care facilities, or to the South Dakota National Guard if the vaccination was required for federal activation.

Supporters of the bill said the legislation supported personal freedom and bodily autonomy. House Majority Leader Scott Odenbach, R-Spearfish, told lawmakers that the COVID-19 pandemic and the rapid development of a vaccine turned “big business” into a “de facto arm of the government” with businesses requiring workers to be vaccinated during the public health emergency.

Sioux Falls Republican Rep. Taylor Rehfeldt opposed the bill because she struggled with the bill’s vague language, such as “adversarial employment action,” and questioned the point of a bill without penalty.

“If there is no action or consequence if it isn’t followed, then why are we passing it?” Rehfeldt said. “Is this a bill we’re passing to make us feel better and to say how much we hate the COVID-19 vaccine?”

Rehfeldt added that the legislation prioritized one person’s freedom over another’s.

[END]
---
[1] Url: https://southdakotasearchlight.com/briefs/vaccine-conscience-exemption-bill-fails-in-sd-house/

Published and (C) by South Dakota Searchlight
Content appears here under this condition or license: Creative Commons BY-ND 4.0.

via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds:
gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/sdsearchlight/