Tennessee bill to eliminate parental responsibility for vaccinating children shelved

Tennessee law refers to CDC guidelines on childhood vaccines.(Photo: John Partipilo/Tennessee Lookout)

Tennessee House lawmakers on Tuesday voted to shelve a  bill that would have eliminated parental responsibility for vaccinating children in accordance with federal and medical association guidelines. 

The bill by Republican Rep. Susan Lynn of Mount Juliet and Sen. Janice Bowling of Tullahoma proposed to strip a provision from Tennessee law that encourages parents and legal guardians to get children vaccinated according to guidelines set by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) or the American Academy of Pediatrics. 

Lynn argued before a House Population Health subcommittee that the current law is unconstitutional, because it “delegates” authority for setting childhood vaccination guidelines to a federal agency.

“We have not looked into the CDC’s ever growing list of vaccinations, that ever growing vaccine schedule. We have not looked into it at all. So we are simply delegating all of our rights to the CDC – giving up everything to the CDC,” Lynn said. 

“Also because this is in the law and [if] a parent doesn’t do that, it can be said they are in violation of the law,” she said. Lynn said her legislation would signal to parents “you’re not going to be charged with a misdemeanor if you’re not following (current) law.” 

A legislative attorney contradicted both of Lynn’s claims.

“To my knowledge (the law) is not unconstitutional,” said Heather Asbell, the attorney.

Asbell also noted current law does not include any legal penalties for parents who fail to comply. “A parent would not be civilly liable or criminally prosecuted for not abiding by current law with the responsibility of vaccinating their child,” she said. 

Tennessee law refers to CDC guidelines on childhood vaccines for a reason, said Democratic Rep. John Ray Clemmons of Nashville 

“The CDC is the nation’s leading science-based, data driven service organization that protects the public’s health,” he said. The state of Tennessee does not have that resource.

“We’re looking at children dying of measles in 2025. That’s concerning. Children with tetanus, these types of issues. These are concerning things we should be caring about if public health is a priority for us,” he said. 

Lawmakers ultimately voted to send the bill to summer study, a mechanism to shelve debate on the measure for the rest of the legislative session.