PIERRE, S.D. (KELO.com) — A bill that would put an end to vaccination requirements for students has been introduced in the South Dakota House of Representatives.
House Bill 1235 would stop schools and colleges from requiring vaccinations for students to enter school.
Mitchell School Superintendent Joe Graves disagrees with the bill. He says “The current immunization system makes complete sense to me, and I really can’t imagine why we would go away from that.”
One of the bill’s 12 co-sponsors, House Majority Leader Lee Qualm of Platte, says “Nobody should be able to forcibly put something in someone’s body that they do not approve of.” He says it should be up to each set of parents to decide what is right for their children with regard to vaccinations.
The measure would also raise the penalty for schools and doctors that compel someone to get vaccinated from a class two misdemeanor to a class one.
South Dakota currently provides exemptions for students with weakened immune systems or religious objections.
(Colin Strombeck of KELO Radio News contributed this report.)
