{"id":34311,"date":"2021-11-28T17:30:00","date_gmt":"2021-11-28T22:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.westbendnews.net\/autonews\/?p=34311"},"modified":"2021-11-22T16:38:04","modified_gmt":"2021-11-22T21:38:04","slug":"riedel-votes-for-ohio-medical-freedom-plan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.westbendnews.net\/autonews\/riedel-votes-for-ohio-medical-freedom-plan\/","title":{"rendered":"Riedel Votes for Ohio Medical Freedom Plan"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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The Ohio House of Representatives today approved a COVID-19 medical freedom plan that protects workers and students from vaccine mandates, and bans \u201cvaccine passports.\u201d State Representative Craig S. Riedel (R-Defiance) voted in favor of the Ohio Medical Freedom Plan, known as House Bill (HB) 218. HB 218 is the result of extensive committee debate and deliberation by state lawmakers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHouse Bill 218 is a thorough and comprehensive bill that protects the rights of Ohioans,\u201d said Rep. Riedel. \u201cIn our communities and across the state, the message was clear: Ohioans want a clear, balanced and unambiguous plan on this important and deeply personal issue.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The bill ensures most Ohioans would be empowered to refuse mandated COVID-19 vaccinations by claiming an exemption for medical reasons, natural immunity as demonstrated by the presence of COVID-19 antibodies, and reasons of personal conscience including religious convictions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Those same exemptions would also be available for students and employees at Ohio\u2019s public and private schools, colleges and universities. A written statement claiming the exemption is all that would be required for students and employees to receive the exemption. The bill also allows for a student or employee to seek relief in the event of a violation, including going to court or filing an employment discrimination claim.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Additionally, the bill bans \u201cvaccine passport\u201d requirements from being imposed for entry into a public building or private business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI believe no one should be forced to be vaccinated no matter what type of inoculation. It should always be a personal choice. HB 218 protects individual freedom when it comes to COVID-19,\u201d added Rep. Riedel. \u201cThe vast majority of Ohioans have asked for this freedom and today the Republican Caucus in the Ohio House of Representatives delivered for Ohio.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The bill also prohibits public and private K-12 schools, colleges and universities from discriminating against a student based on their vaccination status while in a school setting or on school property.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other elements of the bill include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 Employees of a children\u2019s hospital, an intensive care or critical care unit of a hospital, would not be able to receive a vaccine exemption, under the bill. However, a hospital must make a good faith attempt to provide equitable employment to an individual who refuses to get a vaccine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 Schools and employers would be prohibited from requiring a student or employee to receive a vaccine if it has not been issued a biologics license or otherwise been granted full approval by the FDA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 Extends through June 2023 provisions from House Bill 606 (133rd General Assembly) that would protect employers from COVID-19 liability under certain circumstances.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 Other provisions sunset on September 30, 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HB 218 will now go to the Senate for consideration.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Ohio House of Representatives today approved a COVID-19 medical freedom plan that protects workers and students from vaccine mandates,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"colormag_page_container_layout":"default_layout","colormag_page_sidebar_layout":"default_layout","nf_dc_page":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[92,11],"tags":[4747,13347],"class_list":["post-34311","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-election","category-government-legal","tag-craig-riedel","tag-medical-freedom-plan"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2YQd9-8Vp","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-29 00:53:04","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.westbendnews.net\/autonews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34311","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.westbendnews.net\/autonews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.westbendnews.net\/autonews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.westbendnews.net\/autonews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.westbendnews.net\/autonews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34311"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.westbendnews.net\/autonews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34311\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.westbendnews.net\/autonews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34311"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.westbendnews.net\/autonews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34311"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.westbendnews.net\/autonews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34311"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}