The Arizona House approved a bill that would prohibit vaccine mandates and other medical measures across the state. Under Arizona House Bill 2248, also called the Arizona Medical Freedom Act, the bill prohibits sweeping requirements for medical interventions, which are defined as “a medical procedure, treatment, device, drug, injection, medication or medical action taken to diagnose, prevent or cure a disease or alter the health or biological function of a person.”
The prohibitions do not apply to “any situation in which personal protective equipment, items or clothing are required by employers in the public or private sector based on existing traditional and accepted industry standards or federal law.” It does not apply or include “any vaccine, mask requirement or other medical interventions that was introduced during the COVID-19 pandemic.”
The bill now heads to the Arizona Senate.
A similar health-related bill recently passed the Arizona House. The legislation, which expands the ban on taxpayer funds for transgender-related treatments for minors, states that a physician or other health professional may not “provide a gender transition procedure to any individual who is under eighteen years of age” or “refer any individual who is under eighteen years of age to another health professional for a gender transition procedure.” It adds, “Public monies may not be directly or indirectly used, granted, paid, or distributed to any individual, entity, or organization that provides gender transition procedures to any individual who is under eighteen years of age.”
A similar bill has been proposed in the Arizona Senate. Under SB 1095, a physician cannot provide a gender transition procedure to a minor, or refer a minor to another health professional for such a procedure.
