Bruce Lear lives in Sioux City and has been connected to Iowa’s public schools for 38 years. He taught for eleven years and represented educators as an Iowa State Education Association regional director for 27 years until retiring. He can be reached at BruceLear2419@gmail.com
Protecting children is a shared value of most adults. A newborn can’t leave the hospital unless they’re buckled into an approved car seat. We childproof our houses. We gasp the first time they swing too high and move closer to catch them if they fly out. When they’re tweens and teens, we stay up sweating until they’re home. We insist on seat belts, driver’s training, and helmets for bicycle riding.
At school, there are tornado, fire, and lockdown drills. There are lists of people approved to pick up students at the end of the day. Schools warn parents not to send a sick child to school.
We’re protective and cautious.
That’s why a bill now pending in the Iowa House is so troubling.
House File 2171 would eliminate immunization requirements for enrolling in elementary or secondary school, a mandate in place for decades. The House Education Committee approved the bill in early February, making it eligible for floor debate. If it becomes law, Iowa would be the first state to adopt this reckless policy.
This bill would put kids, educators, and school visitors at high risk, and drag Iowa back to a time when serious childhood diseases ran rampant.
In 1905, the U.S. Supreme Court allowed states to mandate vaccinations for enrollment in school. All 50 states adopted mandates based on the best science, and that’s still the case today. Currently, the basic immunization requirements in Iowa include Diphtheria, Pertussis, Tetanus, Measles, Polio, Rubeola, Rubella, Hepatitis B, Varicella and Meningococcal. Like most states, Iowa allows parents to seek exemptions for religious or medical reasons.
Public health officials have strongly warned against passing this bill. Chaney Yeast, a lobbyist for Blank Children’s Hospital in Des Moines, told Iawmakers at the subcommittee on House File 2171 that pediatricians at the hospital were deeply concerned about the proposal. “This is the bill that scares them the most about children’s health, and I don’t think I’m being dramatic about that,” she said. “We, in our lifetime, have probably never experienced one of the basic childhood immunization outbreaks.”
So, why are Iowa Republican legislators trying to undo decades of proven protection for our children?
The answer is they are putting partisan politics above protecting public health.
Vaccine skepticism has been around for 200 years. But those skeptics weren’t able to control government policy, because leaders listened to science. Most parents were less afraid of the vaccine than of the disease. Also, vaccines worked, and through herd immunity virtually wiped out many childhood diseases that were once common in the U.S.
The most recent round of vaccine denial and skepticism began during the COVID-19 pandemic. President Donald Trump initiated “Operation Warp Speed,” a public and private partnership to develop vaccines. It worked, and three coronavirus vaccines became available in early 2021. To many, this marked the biggest achievement of the Trump Presidency.
But the “Master of Marketing” missed marketing gold and a chance to silence vaccine deniers. He could have celebrated the success of “Operation Warp Speed” and become “savior of the world.” Instead he listened to the MAGA contingent who spun conspiracy theories and spread fear about vaccines. They also peddled unscientific COVID cures like hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin.
Imagine what might have been if Trump had fully embraced vaccines and masks. He could have promoted taking a “Trump shot” and emblazoned his name on each mask provided free of charge. His followers would have proudly worn masks and lined up for vaccinations. Trump’s enemies would not have rejected his shots or his masks, because they believed in science. It would have limited partisan political fighting about vaccines.
What should be done to prevent House File 2171 from passing?
- Superintendents and school board members need to sound the alarm by bluntly communicating with Republican legislators. At legislative forums, this should be the first item on every agenda.
- Each school board, education association, and PTA should pass a formal resolution against this bill and contact Republican legislators.
- Urge Republicans not to bring House File 2171 up for a floor vote.
- If the bill comes before the chamber, hold each Republican legislator accountable for this vote.
Protecting kids needs to come before politics. Let’s work together, take off the partisan blinders, and focus on our shared values to protect Iowa’s children from this dangerous policy.
Editor’s note from Laura Belin: When the House Education Committee considered House File 2171 on February 4, Republican State Representatives Chad Ingels and Tom Moore joined all seven Democrats on the panel (Representatives Tracy Ehlert, Dan Gosa, Monica Kurth, Elinor Levin, Mary Madison, Heather Matson, and Angel Ramirez) to vote against advancing the bill.
The following fourteen Republicans voted to roll back school immunization requirements, keeping the bill alive: Representatives Skyler Wheeler, Samantha Fett, Chad Behn, Brooke Boden, Steven Bradley, Dan Gehlbach, Helena Hayes, Robert Henderson, Heather Hora, Craig Johnson, Barb Kniff McCulla, Wendy Larson, Jeff Shipley, and Henry Stone.
Top photo is by pedro7merino, available via Shutterstock.