By: Harrison	H.B. No. 35

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Statutes affected:
Introduced: ()

	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
	AN ACT
	relating to informed consent before provision of certain medical
	treatments and exemptions from COVID-19 vaccination requirements.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
	SECTION 1.  This Act shall be known as the Texas COVID-19
	Vaccine Freedom Act.
	SECTION 2.  The legislature finds that:
	(1)  this state is responsible for ensuring that
	individuals lawfully residing in this state have the right to
	provide or withhold consent for any medical treatment;
	(2)  the decision in Canterbury v. Spence, 464 F.2d 772
	(D.C. Cir. 1972), establishing the concept of informed consent, has
	become a bedrock principle of the laws of this country and of each
	state;
	(3)  the American Medical Association's Code of Medical
	Ethics Opinion 2.1.1 recognizes the right of an individual to be
	fully informed of a recommended medical treatment to allow the
	individual to make an informed decision regarding the individual's
	course of treatment, including whether to obtain or decline a
	particular medical treatment;
	(4)  under 42 C.F.R. Section 482.13, a hospital is
	required as a condition of participation in Medicare to have in
	place a process for obtaining the informed consent of a patient
	before providing treatment to the patient and to ensure "[t]he
	patient or his or her representative (as allowed under State law)
	has the right to make informed decisions regarding his or her care";
	(5)  the United States Supreme Court upheld mandatory
	vaccination policies imposed by state and local governments to
	combat smallpox in Jacobson v. Massachusetts, 197 U.S. 11 (1905),
	and acknowledged in Pruneyard Shopping Center v. Robins, 447 U.S.
	74, 81 (1980), that a state may provide "individual liberties more
	expansive than those conferred by the Federal Constitution";
	(6)  persons inside and outside this state have sought
	or are seeking to compel or coerce individuals lawfully residing in
	this state into obtaining a COVID-19 vaccine contrary to the
	individuals' preferences;
	(7)  any attempt to compel or coerce an individual
	lawfully residing in this state into obtaining a COVID-19 vaccine
	contrary to the individual's preference is inconsistent with the
	principles of informed consent; and
	(8)  Section 161.0086, Health and Safety Code, as added
	by this Act, prohibits any person from compelling or coercing an
	individual lawfully residing in this state into obtaining medical
	treatments involving the administration of a COVID-19 vaccine.
	SECTION 3.  Subchapter A, Chapter 161, Health and Safety
	Code, is amended by adding Section 161.0086 to read as follows:
	Sec. 161.0086.  INFORMED CONSENT AND MEDICAL TREATMENT
	EXEMPTIONS FOR COVID-19 VACCINATION. (a) In this section:
	(1)  "COVID-19" means the 2019 novel coronavirus
	disease.
	(2)  "Health care facility" means a facility that is a
	provider of services, as defined by Section 1861, Social Security
	Act (42 U.S.C. Section 1395x).
	(3)  "Health care provider" means an individual
	licensed or otherwise authorized by this state to administer
	vaccines.
	(b)  A person may not compel or coerce an individual lawfully
	residing in this state into obtaining a medical treatment involving
	the administration of a COVID-19 vaccine, including a COVID-19
	vaccine approved or authorized by the United States Food and Drug
	Administration, contrary to the individual's vaccination
	preference.
	(c)  A health care provider may not provide to an individual
	lawfully residing in this state a medical treatment involving the
	administration of a COVID-19 vaccine, including a COVID-19 vaccine
	approved or authorized by the United States Food and Drug
	Administration, unless the provider obtains the individual's
	informed consent before administering the COVID-19 vaccine.
	(d)  For purposes of this section:
	(1)  an individual lacks the capacity to provide
	informed consent for a medical treatment involving the
	administration of a COVID-19 vaccine if the individual has been
	compelled or coerced into obtaining a COVID-19 vaccine contrary to
	the individual's vaccination preference; and