INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana lawmakers are pulling the plug on a bill that would prohibit employers from requiring workers from getting immunizations against COVID-19 or any other disease.
Senate Bill 74, introduced by Republican Sen. Dennis Kruse, would have allowed employees to decline vaccinations for medical, religious or reasons of personal “conscience.” They would also be allowed to sue an employer that required immunizations as a condition of employment.
The bill was referred to the Committee on Pensions and Labor Jan. 4, but Republican Sen. Phil Boots, who chairs the committee and had been added as an author of the bill, said Wednesday there would be no additional hearings or committee votes on the bill.
Protesters gathered at the Statehouse Wednesday, many saying they should have a choice whether or not to receive a vaccination.
"We're speaking out for bodily autonomy and the right to choose what goes into our body and what doesn't. This is a fundamental liberty and I think people are missing the idea the individual has the right...to bodily autonomy or the right to choose what happens to your own body," said Ashley Grogg with Hoosiers for Medical Liberty. "We must preserve and protect that right, because as soon as we start losing those rights, we get on a slippery slope and who knows what's next."
The protesters were also upset that one of the bill's sponsors wasn't pushing for lawmakers to hear the bill and they wanted to see it come to a vote.