Idaho Lawmakers Seek to Make Administering COVID Vaccine a Crime

February 21, 2023 by Dan McCue
Idaho Lawmakers Seek to Make Administering COVID Vaccine a Crime
Boxes of COVID vaccines. (Photo by Dan McCue)

BOISE, Idaho — A pair of Republican lawmakers in the Idaho state Legislature have introduced a bill that would make the administering of mRNA vaccines, such as the Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines, a crime.

“Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a person may not provide or administer a vaccine developed using messenger ribonucleic acid technology for use in an individual or any other mammal in this state,” says Idaho House Bill 154, introduced by state Sen. Tammy Nichols and state Rep. Judy Boyle, both Republicans.

If the bill were to advance and actually get signed into law, a person administering such a shot would be charged with a misdemeanor.

During a presentation on the bill to the Idaho House Health and Welfare Committee last week, Nichols told her fellow lawmakers that she and Boyle “had issues” with the vaccines being “fast-tracked” during the pandemic.


She and Boyle are also concerned about reports of “blood clots and heart issues” associated with them.

At least one lawmaker, state Rep. Ilana Rubel, a Democrat, pushed back at Nichols’ assertions over the fast-tracking of the vaccines, saying that she understood they’d been vetted and approved by the Food and Drug Administration.


But Nichols said she’s been learning that the approval process “may not have been done like we thought it should’ve been done.”

“There are other shots we could utilize that don’t have mRNA in it,” Nichols added.

The mRNA technology was discovered in the early 1960s by researchers at Johns Hopkins University, who were seeking to develop a vaccine against the Ebola virus. It works by assisting the body in making proteins.

When it comes to the COVID vaccines, the mRNA molecule helps the body make proteins that mimic the COVID virus and aids in the body fighting off the infection.


Next up for the bill is a hearing before the committee. If it passes there, it will move on to the state House floor to be debated.

Dan can be reached at [email protected] and @DanMcCue

A+
a-

In The News

Health

Voting

In The States

Is the David Porn? Come See, Italians Tell Florida Parents

ROME (AP) — The Florence museum housing Michelangelo’s Renaissance masterpiece the David on Sunday invited parents and students from a... Read More

ROME (AP) — The Florence museum housing Michelangelo’s Renaissance masterpiece the David on Sunday invited parents and students from a Florida charter school to visit after complaints about a lesson featuring the statue forced the principal to resign. Florence Mayor Dario Nardella also tweeted an invitation... Read More

New Maryland Clinic Opening in Post-Roe 'Abortion Desert'

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — A new abortion provider is opening this year in Democratic-controlled Maryland — just across from deeply... Read More

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — A new abortion provider is opening this year in Democratic-controlled Maryland — just across from deeply conservative West Virginia, where state lawmakers recently passed a near-total abortion ban. The Women’s Health Center of Maryland in Cumberland, roughly 5 miles (8 kilometers) from... Read More

Veto Puts Kentucky in Thick of Fight Over Transgender Rights

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear's veto of a bill aimed at transgender health care puts the state in the... Read More

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear's veto of a bill aimed at transgender health care puts the state in the middle of a national fight, but with more immediate consequences as the state's looming election offers an early test on the state-by-state assault on gender-affirming care... Read More

Mississippi Tornadoes Kill 23, Injure Dozens Overnight

ROLLING FORK, Miss. (AP) — Powerful tornadoes tore through the Deep South on Friday night, killing at least 23 people... Read More

ROLLING FORK, Miss. (AP) — Powerful tornadoes tore through the Deep South on Friday night, killing at least 23 people in Mississippi, obliterating dozens of buildings and leaving an especially devastating mark in a rural town whose mayor declared, “My city is gone.” The Mississippi Emergency... Read More

March 25, 2023
by Claire Cleveland
Bill Could Ban Girls From Talking About Their Periods in School

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — In Florida, Republican lawmakers have introduced a bevy of new legislation that will, if passed, restrict certain... Read More

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — In Florida, Republican lawmakers have introduced a bevy of new legislation that will, if passed, restrict certain health educational materials used in state schools. One such bill, House Bill 1069, would limit children below sixth grade from discussing their menstrual cycles in school. ... Read More

March 24, 2023
by Dan McCue
Solar + Storage Transforming Former West Virginia Industrial Site

RAVENSWOOD, W. Va. — Like a lot of communities in America’s heartland, Jackson County, West Virginia, was built on natural... Read More

RAVENSWOOD, W. Va. — Like a lot of communities in America’s heartland, Jackson County, West Virginia, was built on natural resources. Timber and energy wrought from the ground helped sustain and grow its population, and the arrival of manufacturing in the mid-1950s — in the guise... Read More

News From The Well
scroll top