Indiana attorney general attacks IU’s COVID-19 vaccine order

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Indiana's attorney general is attacking Indiana University’s decision to require proof of COVID-19 vaccinations from all students and employees as illegal under a new state law banning the state or local governments from issuing or requiring vaccine passports.

That advisory opinion issued late Wednesday afternoon, however, contradicts a top Republican legislative leader who said he didn’t believe the law adopted last month applied to public universities or K-12 schools.

The opinion from Republican Attorney General Todd Rokita’s office, which is not binding, maintains that Indiana’s public universities are created by state law and that court rulings have determined them to be "arms of the state." The opinion said the new law applies to universities since the legislature didn’t exempt them.

The attorney general’s opinion comes a day after 19 Republican legislators sent a protest letter to Gov. Eric Holcomb asking him to use his "executive authority" to prohibit any state university from mandating vaccines that don’t have full U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval.

"Students, parents, they've spent countless hours evaluating the best course for their careers," Rep. (R) Jim Lucas-Seymour said. "For this to just come out and all of a sudden out of the blue like that? That's the reason for the letter."

IU said its order is aimed at prioritizing the safety of employees and the some 90,000 students on its seven campuses while providing a more typical college experience, with full attendance at in-person classes, athletic and other events.

"The policy mandating the vaccine reiterates that we are not requiring a vaccine 'passport'; with everyone vaccinated, that would be unnecessary," an IU statement said.

Republican legislators last month pushed through the ban on COVID-19 vaccine passports, a move that came as conservatives across the country portray them as a heavy-handed intrusion into personal freedom and private health choices.

State Rep. Chris Campbell, D-Lafayette, who was a co-author on the vaccine passport ban, said lawmakers purposefully left colleges off the measure, saying it should be "left to those individual locations, because they know their situations and they know what they need in their environment to keep others safe."

Rokita emphasized that objection in a statement about the opinion.

"Indiana University’s policy clearly runs afoul of state law — and the fundamental liberties and freedoms this legislation was designed to protect," Rokita said.

The new law states that "the state or a local unit may not issue or require an immunization passport."

It makes no mentions of educational institutions and Senate President Pro Tem Rodric Bray said on the day it was approved that he didn’t believe it applied to public universities or K-12 schools.

"I looked at it as state, county, local governments," Bray said.

The offices of Bray and Republican House Speaker Todd Huston didn’t immediately comment Wednesday on Rokita’s opinion.

The attorney general’s opinion, however, said the state universities may require COVID-19 vaccinations but can’t force students or employees to provide proof of immunizations.

It distinguished between Indiana University’s policy and that of Purdue University, which plans to require students and employees to either provide proof of vaccination for the fall semester or participate in frequent COVID-19 testing.

"Students have the choice whether to vaccinate or be tested regularly; even if they are vaccinated, they can be tested if they do not want to show proof of vaccination," the opinion said. "Purdue seems to be using a procedural loophole by not technically requiring the vaccinated student to produce the immunization record."

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