Staff Analysis of the Legislation
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SUMMARY:
This bill would amend Code Section 20-2-771 of the O.C.G.A. to allow parents to exempt their child(ren) from immunizations for any reason.
NOTE:
The only caution about a bill that seems logical to allow parents to choose whether or not their own child(ren) are immunized against so-called "childhood" diseases is that it could open the door for a number of children to suffer from these diseases, both because their parents chose to exempt immunization and because those children who have been immunized would possibly still be subject to catching the disease. Even though children who catch the disease after they have been immunized would likely have a light case, they would have to miss several days of school. There is potential for many days of instruction to be lost to a substantial number of children, which puts the students at risk of passing the grade and puts the school at risk of not making AYP. |