An Act To Prohibit Mandatory COVID-19 Vaccinations for 5 Years To Allow for Safety Testing and Investigations into Reproductive Harm
Maine Legislature, Session 130, LD 0867
Committee Amendment CA_A_H768 (House)
Amends: 20-A MRSA §6354, 20-A MRSA §6358, 20-A MRSA §6359, 26 MRSA §565

COMMITTEE AMENDMENT "A" to H.P. 635, L.D. 867, "An Act To Prohibit 
Mandatory COVID-19 Vaccinations for 5 Years To Allow for Safety Testing and 
Investigations into Reproductive Harm" 
Amend the bill by striking out the title and substituting the following: 
'An Act To Prohibit the State from Mandating COVID-19 Vaccinations' 
Amend the bill by striking out the the emergency preamble and substituting the 
following: 
'Emergency preamble. Whereas, acts and resolves of the Legislature do not 
become effective until 90 days after adjournment unless enacted as emergencies; and 
Whereas, 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; and 
Whereas, the decision in Canterbury v. Spence, 464 F.2d 772 (D.C. Cir. 1972), 
establishing the concept of informed consent in medical treatment, has become a bedrock 
principle of the laws of this country and of each state; and 
Whereas, 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; 
and 
. Whereas, under 42 Code of Federal Regulations, 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 
the patient or the patient's representative, as allowed by state law, has the right to make 
informed decisions regarding the patient's care; and 
Whereas, although the United States Supreme Court upheld mandatory vaccination 
policies imposed by state and local governments to combat smallpox in Jacobson v. 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
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COMMITTEE AMENDMENT A,-» to H.P. 635, L.D. 867 
Massachusetts, 197 U.S. 11 (1905), the United States Supreme Court recognized in 
Pruneyard Shopping Center v. Robins, 447 U.S. 74 (1980) that a state may provide 
individual liberties more expansive than those conferred by the United States Constitution; 
and 
Whereas, persons inside and outside this State have sought or are seeking to compel 
or coerce individuals lawfully residing in this State to be vaccinated against COVID-19 
contrary to their preferences; and 
Whereas, any attempt to compel or coerce an individual lawfully residing in this State 
to be vaccinated against COVID-19 contrary to the individual's preferences is inconsistent 
with the principles of informed consent; and 
Whereas, the COVID-19 vaccine carries the risk of injury and death to both healthy 
and vulnerable individuals; and 
Whereas, in the judgment of the Legislature, these facts create an emergency within 
the meaning of the Constitution of Maine and require the following legislation as 
immediately necessary for the preservation of the public peace, health and safety; now, 
therefore,' 
Amend the bill by striking out everything after the enacting clause and inserting the 
following: 
'Sec. 1. 5 MRSA c. 505 is enacted to read: 
CHAPTER505 
COVID-19 VACCINATIONS 
§19351. Prohibition on mandatory COVID-19 vaccinations 
Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, the State is prohibited from 
imposing upon any resident of the State, including students, mandatory vaccinations for 
coronavirus disease 2019, referred to as COVID-19. 
Sec. 2. 20-A MRSA §6354, sub-§1, as c01Tected by RR 2019, c. 2, Pt. B, §18, is 
amended to read: 
1. Immunization required. Except as otherwise provided under this subchapter and 
with the exception of the vaccination for coronavirus disease 2019, referred to as 
COVID-19, every parent shall cause to be administered to that parent's child an adequate 
dosage of an immunizing agent against each disease. 
Sec. 3. 20-A MRSA §6358, sub-§1, as corrected by RR 2019, c. 1, Pt. A, §17, is 
amended to read: 
1. Rules authorized. The commissioner and the Director of the Maine Center for 
Disease Control and Prevention within the Department of Health and Human Services shall 
jointly issue rules necessary for the effective implementation of this subchapter, including, 
but not limited to, rules specifying those diseases for which immunization is required and 
establishing school record keeping and reporting requirements or guidelines and 
procedures for the exclusion of nonimmunized children from school. The rules may not 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
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COMMITTEE AMENDMENT "A" to H.P. 635, L.D. 867 
include any provision governing medical exemptions and may not include a reguirement 
that a student be immunized against coronavirus disease 2019, referred to as COVID-19. 
Rules adopted pursuant to this subchapter are routine technical rules as defined in Title 5, 
chapter 375, subchapter 2-A except that rules adopted pursuant to this subchapter 
specifying the diseases for which immunization is required are major substantive rules as 
defined in Title 5, chapter 375, subchapter 2-A. 
Sec, 4. 20-A MRSA §6358, sub-§2, as enacted by PL 1983, c. 661, §8, is amended 
to read: 
2. Local requirements authorized. Immunization requirements more stringent than 
the provisions of this subchapter may be adopted by ordinance enacted by a municipality, 
by regulation of a school board or by policy of a private school's governing board, except 
that a school board or a private school's governing board may not adopt a regulation, policy 
or other reguirement that a student be immunized against coronavirus disease 2019, 
referred to as COVID-19. 
Sec. 5. 20-A MRSA §6359, sub-§6, as amended by PL 2019, c. 154, §7, is further 
amended to read: 
6. Rules; requirements; reports. The Director of the Maine Center for Disease 
Control and Prevention within the Department of Health and Human Services shall adopt 
rules necessary for the effective implementation of this subchapter, including, but not 
limited to, rules establishing immunization requirements for each disease, school record 
keeping and reporting requirements or guidelines and procedures for the exclusion of 
nonimmunized students from school. The rules may not include any provision governing 
medical exemptions and may not include a requirement that a student be immunized against 
coronavirus disease 2019, referred to as COVID-19. Rules adopted pursuant to this 
subchapter are routine technical rules as defined in Title 5, chapter 375, subchapter 2-A.,_ 
except that rules adopted pursuant to this subchapter specifying the diseases for which 
immunization is required are major substantive rules as defined in Title 5, chapter 375, 
subchapter 2-A. 
Immunization requirements more stringent than the provisions of this subchapter may be 
adopted by a school board or by policy of a private school's governing board, except that a 
school board or a private school's governing board may not adopt a regulation, policy or 
other reguirement that a student be immunized against coronavirus disease 2019, referred 
to as COVID-19. 
Sec. 6. 26 MRSA §565, as amended by PL 2021, c. 103, §1, is further amended to 
read: 
§565. Powers and duties of board 
The board shall formulate and adopt reasonable rules, pursuant to Title 5, chapter 3 7 5, 
subchapter 2, for safe and healthful working conditions, including rules requiring the use 
of personal protective equipment, monitoring and record keeping. except that a rule may 
not include a requirement that an employee be immunized against coronavirus disease 
2019, referred to as COVID-19. The rules must at a minimum conform to federal standards 
of occupational safety and health so that the state program can be federally approved as a 
public employee only occupational safety and health program.' 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT" A• to H.P. 635, L.D. 867 
Amend the bill by relettering or renumbering any nonconsecutive Part letter or section 
number to read consecutively. 
SUMMARY 
This amendment replaces the bill. It changes the title to reflect the removal from the 
bill of the 5-year limitation on the prohibition of mandatory COVID-19 vaccines and 
requirements for safety testing and investigations into reproductive harm. It amends the 
emergency preamble, and it replaces the 5-year prohibition of state-mandated COVID-19 
vaccinations with a prohibition on state-mandated COVID-19 vaccinations for all state 
residents, including specifically students and public employees. 
FISCAL NOTE REQUIRED 
(See attached) 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
Approved: 02/14/22 ;::k?ae:.. 
LD867 
LR497(02) 
An Act To Prohibit Mandatory COVID-19 Vaccinations for 5 Years To Allow for Safety Testing and 
Investigations into Reproductive Harm 
Fiscal Detail and Notes 
Fiscal Note for Bill as Amended by Committee Amendment yf, { f(-7{8') 
Committee: Health and Human Services 
Fiscal Note Required: Yes 
Fiscal Note 
Current biennium cost increase - Quasi-independent state entities 
Prohibiting the State from mandating COVID-19 vaccinations for all state residents, including students and public 
employees, will result in increased costs to those quasi-independent state entities that choose to implement or expand 
precautionary measures, including the testing of all employees and students for the COVID-19 virus, in order to 
monitor and address the spread of the vims at their facilities. 
LR0497(02) - Fiscal Note - Page 1 of 1