Rules committee nixes meningitis vaccine requirement for students
Wisconsin United for Freedom leader on vaccines: How many is too many, and who gets to decide?
Thanks in major part to the grassroots efforts of Wisconsin United for Freedom, the Wisconsin legislature’s joint rules committee recently gave the boot to a new rule mandating a meningitis vaccine for the state’s seventh and twelfth graders, yet another step forward for parental rights over government control and for medical freedom overall, not to mention a (tiny) victory against the administrative state.
The vote along party lines was 6-4, with Republican members in the majority. The rule had only taken effect February 1, and the committee’s suspension makes the blocked provision unenforceable until at least April 2024. The committee co-chairman, Sen. Steve Nass (R-Whitewater), said the Department of Health Services (DHS) bid to require the shot was wholly unwarranted:
[The joint rules committee], once again, met its oversight duty relating to the improper actions taken by DHS to enact binding administrative code provisions that were arbitrary and capricious, as well as placing undue hardships on the families of this state. [The committee’s] suspension action restores the reasonable right of parents to make immunization decisions for their children regarding the meningitis vaccine and the process for exempting children that have had the chicken pox (Varicella) disease from the vaccination mandate.
In addition to removing the first and second doses of the meningitis vaccine, as well as other references to it in the rule, the committee removed a new requirement that a physician, physician assistant, or advanced practice nurse prescriber must confirm a child’s history of chicken pox for the student to be exempt from having to receive that vaccine. Previously, Nass said, the administrative code required only that a parent document that their child had previously had chicken pox for the exemption to apply.
The committee also removed the chicken pox and meningococcal diseases from the list of diseases for which DHS can exercise “substantial outbreak” powers. Nass said those were new additions to the list. Under that provision, when the department determines that a “substantial outbreak” exists in a school or municipality, the department can require that non-vaccinated students be excluded from the school, including those who have received vaccine waivers because of health, religion, or personal conviction.
The action followed a public hearing earlier in the week when parents and other citizens urged the committee to protect parental rights and medical freedom. Parents packed the committee room to oppose the new vaccine requirements; on the other side, state epidemiologist Dr. Ryan Westergaard—whom Nass at one point called Wisconsin’s Dr. Fauci—spoke about the potential dangers of meningitis and Dr. Stephanie Schauer, the state immunization program manager, observed that the Centers for Disease Control had recommended the vaccination for students since 2005.
Wisconsin United for Freedom (WUFF), a citizens group for vaccine choice and health freedom, played a major role in pushing for the public hearing and in galvanizing opposition to the new vaccine requirements. After the suspension of the rules, Tara Czachor, a cofounder of WUFF, said Wisconsinites from across the state had attended the hearing to make their voices heard and to tell their elected officials they did not want any more vaccination requirements added to the childhood schedule. She also asked the most important question every parent in Wisconsin should be asking about childhood vaccines:
How many is too many, and who gets to decide? Wisconsin DHS should not be unilaterally making additional vaccine requirements for Wisconsin children without legislative oversight. We are very happy with this outcome, and that Wisconsin parents will continue to be in the driver’s seat as it relates to medical decisions for their children.
Wisconsin United for Freedom lays out its arguments …