Louisiana AG sues governor over COVID-19 vaccine requirement for students

The Louisiana attorney general and a Republican member of the state House on Wednesday filed a lawsuit against Gov. John Bel Edwards (D) after the governor announced that he will be going ahead with adding the COVID-19 vaccine to the schedule of immunizations for schools despite a bipartisan panel rejecting the move last week.

Attorney General Jeff Landry (R) and state Rep. Raymond Crews (R) sued Edwards in a Louisiana district court, contending that his decision to add the coronavirus vaccine to the immunization list for schools was an overreach of power and violated the state constitution.

“The only thing standing in the way of this overreach is the very document that protects Louisianans from the unbounded exercise of executive authority: the Louisiana Constitution,” the lawsuit reads. “The Louisiana Constitution grants the Governor the power only to enforce the law, not to make it.”

A bipartisan panel last week voted 13-2 against adding the COVID-19 vaccine to the state’s immunization schedule, but in Louisiana, the governor has the power to make the final decision on such matters, according to The Advocate.

Edwards on Tuesday informed the state House Health and Welfare Committee that the Louisiana Department of Health would be adding the COVID-19 vaccine to the schedule of immunizations for students who are eligible for the jab according to the Food and Drug Administration, which is currently individuals 16 years and older.

He noted, however, that opt-out provisions will still be available, which means that “no child is forced to get a vaccine if their parents object in writing.”

Louisiana’s opt-out provision is broad, The Advocate noted, as it accepts a letter from a medical provider or an objection in writing.

Edwards in a letter said he was moving forward with the requirement because “it will save lives and will help Louisiana emerge from this pandemic.”

He said adding the coronavirus vaccine to the immunization schedule represents the state Department of Health “doing exactly as directed and authorized” by state law “to protect the health and safety of the people of Louisiana.”

In a tweet on Wednesday, Landry said, “It is disappointing the Governor has forced us into court.”

It is disappointing the Governor has forced us into court.https://t.co/tmrpys24cM pic.twitter.com/3lYJWCOsje

— AG Jeff Landry (@AGJeffLandry) December 15, 2021

The governor’s office defended its decision on Thursday even after the lawsuit was filed. Christina Stephens, Edwards’s deputy chief of staff of communications, told The Hill that the office is still reviewing the lawsuit, but argued that the department of health is “well within its legal authority.”

“We’re still reviewing the Attorney General’s full filing, but the Louisiana Department of Health is well within its legal authority on adding the COVID vaccine to the immunization schedule, where it will be treated like all other vaccines on the schedule in Louisiana,” Stephens said in an email.

The state currently requires students to be vaccinated against mumps, measles and polio before beginning public and private kindergarten-12th grade schools, day cares, universities and colleges, according to The Advocate.