WA lawmaker introduces bill banning state from forcing people to get COVID vaccine

As the COVID vaccine makes its way into Washington state, the question comes up as to whether or not people are going to be compelled to take one, be it from a government agency or one’s employer. However, there are opportunities for state lawmakers to get involved to make sure that that doesn’t actually happen.

State Representative Brad Klippert (R-Kennewick) introduced legislation banning the state from forcing you to get a COVID vaccine, and joined the Jason Rantz Show on KTTH to discuss why.

“So my goal is that people would be able to exercise their constitutionally protected individual rights … So if you have a religious belief, a personal belief or a physical reason why you do not want to take the COVID-19 vaccination, you should not be required to by your government because it says (in the Constitution) that your government is established to protect and maintain your individual rights,” he said.

Klippert says someone simply not wanting to take it would be good enough of a reason under this legislation, and that he is hesitant to take it himself, partially as a result of something Dr. Fauci said earlier this year.

“I have not only a Constitution belief or a religious belief, but also a personal belief that I do not want to take the COVID-19 vaccination … Fauci said on June 10, 2020, and when I listened to it on the radio I immediately wrote down the quote, and he said, ‘Ladies and gentlemen, even when we do come up with the vaccine, there is never a guarantee that a vaccine is safe and effective,'” he said.

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“That is my understanding why you cannot sue a pharmaceutical company who produces the vaccine. Because in the past, vaccines have caused so many times irreparable damage, physical damage to people that they could no longer be sued because they no longer wanted to make vaccines, because people wanted to sue them for their irreparable harm that happen to their bodies.”

As Jason noted, that quote from Fauci was when the vaccine was in the early phases of testing, and that since, after looking at more current data, Fauci has said that the vaccine is in fact safe and effective and that he’s recommending people get it.

“Anyone who wants to take the COVID-19 vaccine I totally support their right to do so and encourage them to do so if they want to,” Klippert responded. “There is never a guarantee that a vaccine is safe and effective. So that’s what he said. I wrote it down, and if he wants to change his wording now, so be it.”

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Does this legislation only apply from a governmental perspective and it would be extended to businesses?

“My intent with this piece of legislation after talking to staff and attorneys in Olympia is protect individual rights. So if an employer will just say to an employee you must be vaccinated to come back to work, it is my intent, my desire with this piece of legislation that they would be able to say, ‘Sir, ma’am, I choose not to take this vaccine. I’m standing on my constitutionally protected rights not to be required to do so.'”

Listen to the Jason Rantz Show weekday afternoons from 3 – 6 p.m. on KTTH 770 AM (or HD Radio 97.3 FM HD-Channel 3). Subscribe to the podcast here.