Iowa passes bill to curtail vaccine passports

Iowa’s Senate on Wednesday passed a bill that would limit the use of “vaccine passports” within the state.

Under the bill, local governments and businesses would be denied state contracts and grants if they require residents to prove they’ve been vaccinated against COVID-19. It is now set to be sent to Gov. Kim Reynolds (R) for approval, according to the Des Moines Register.

“Here in Iowa, we will protect Iowans from being forced by tyrannical governments to inject their body with chemicals that they may or may not wish to have,” state Sen. Jake Chapman (R), said, according to the Register.

The bill, House File 889, passed with a 32-16 vote, in which two Democrats voted in favor of the bill and one Republican voted against it.

The bill would also prevent Iowa’s local governments from including a person’s vaccination status on an identification card.

State lawmaker Zach Wahls (D) said earlier this week that vaccine passports are not an issue in Iowa, saying that the odds of them becoming implemented in the state “are about the same as me becoming the starting quarterback for the Green Bay Packers,” the Register reported.

“I continue to believe that we have these enormous challenges facing our state,” he told the news outlet. “Vaccine passports is not one of them.”

Reynolds called for the state to take action against vaccine passports last month, saying that she intended to do so through “legislation or executive action.”