Vaccinations are the topic of many bills that have been pre-filed for the session of the Louisiana Legislature beginning at noon Monday. It’s obvious some lawmakers want to be sure no one gets an unwanted shot, but it’s overkill in every sense of the word.

The Louisiana Department of Health has a different goal, which is listed on its website. “Our goal is to eliminate the spread of vaccine preventable diseases by increasing vaccine coverage among Louisiana residents,” the department says.

That should be everyone’s goal.

State Sen. Patrick McMath, R-Covington, is sponsoring Senate Bill 1. The present constitution prohibits arbitrary, capricious, or unreasonable discrimination in public areas, accommodations and facilities based on age, sex, or physical condition. McMath’s bill adds immunization status as a protected class.

State Rep. Kathy Edmonston, R-Gonzales, has filed House Bill 47 that requires that any communication issued to students or parents about immunization requirements include exemption information and an exemption form.

Rep. Bryan Fontenot, R-Thibodaux, and Rep. Larry Frieman, R-Abita Springs, have similar bills, HB 413 and HB 600.

HB 48 by Edmonston prohibits the administration of vaccines on school property and at school-sponsored events. Rep. Beryl Amedee, R-Houma, has the same goal in HB 427.

Edmonston in HB 232 prohibits putting vaccination status on a driver’s license or special identification card.

Frieman is also sponsoring HB 53, a proposed state constitutional amendment that adds the right of Louisiana citizens to accept or reject any form of health care.

Rep. Larry Bagley, R-Stonewall, in HB 54 creates the crime of discrimination based on vaccination status and provides penalties.

Bagley in House Concurrent Resolution 3 repeals administrative rules of the Louisiana Department of Health that add COVID vaccines to the state immunization schedule and those requiring schools to prohibit in-person attendance by certain unvaccinated students.

Rep. Valarie Hodges, R-Denham Springs, is sponsoring HB 354 that prohibits parish and municipal governments from requiring a person to prove or disclose his medical status related to diseases as a condition of participating in a constitutionally protected activity.

Rep. Amedee in HB 407 prohibits adding any vaccine with emergency use authorization status to the list of vaccinations required for school and child daycare entry.

HB 428 by Amedee prohibits the state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE) and the state Department of Education from recommending any vaccine or medical procedure. Amedee in HB 531 provides for civil remedies for a student who is denied entry into school because of immunization requirements.

Amedee has a proposed constitutional amendment in HB 596. It adds the right of Louisiana citizens to bodily autonomy (freedom from external control).

Rep. Mark Wright, R-Covington, in HB 640 requires the state Department of Health to inform the public of the presence of aborted human fetal-derived cells in vaccines.

If all of those protections aren’t enough, Frieman is sponsoring HB 12 that provides for legislative termination of a declaration of a health emergency or any portion of the declaration.

Gov. Edwards and the state Department of Health have established coronavirus pandemic declarations, and some legislators would like to relieve them of that responsibility.

Members of the Legislature don’t have the expertise required to handle health emergencies.

We can only hope that most of these proposed bills don’t see the light of day. Many youngsters in this state need the vaccination protection they have been getting for many years. For those who don’t want the shots, exemptions are not difficult, and parents still have the last word.

The Advocate wrote about Dr. John Vanchiere, the leader of one of seven teams on contract with the state Department of Health to provide students, who might not otherwise see a doctor, with routine immunizations against illnesses like influenza and whooping cough.

Vanchiere specializes in pediatric infectious diseases at LSU Health Shreveport. He said doing away with mobile vaccination clinics on school campuses would disadvantage low-income students, who often have working parents and limited means of transportation.

“For some of these kids, school is the only place providing any semblance of health care,” Vanchiere said. Over 480 vaccination events were held at K-12 schools over the past year and into January and they led to more than 13,100 vaccinations for students and staff.

Did some youngsters get shots without parental permission? Probably, but the indications are that those shots were few and far between. Those of us who are still around today owe much of our good health and longer life to immunizations we have received many times over.