WATCH: 5 Big Questions for Ohio Rep. Ron Ferguson
Ohio State Representative Ron Ferguson sat down with Campus Reform to discuss his controversial amendment to House Bill 244, which Governor Mike DeWine signed into law in July and takes effect October 13.
Editor’s note: This interview was filmed before the FDA granted full approval to the Pfizer vaccine.
Few people have fought as hard against COVID vaccine mandates than Ohio State Representative Ron Ferguson.
Ferguson sat down with Campus Reform to discuss his controversial amendment to House Bill 244, which Governor Mike DeWine signed into law in July and takes effect October 13.
The bill allows children of military servicemembers to remain enrolled in their current schools and attend school remotely in the event that their family is transferred to another location. In June, Ferguson put forward an amendment to the bill that would have prohibited any public or private entity from mandating a vaccine that has not yet been approved by the FDA.
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The House passed his amendment, but the Senate passed a watered-down version that only prohibits public schools and colleges from requiring a vaccine that does not have FDA approval. The latter version is the one that became law.
Ferguson said to Campus Reform, “I think that we shouldn’t be requiring anybody to be forcibly vaccinated here in this country that’s just not what we were founded on. We were founded on freedom and liberty and individual choice and individual rights.”
Ferguson says the pandemic must not be used as justification to restrain individual rights.
“One person’s liberty doesn’t supersede another’s,” he stated. “Like any medical treatment, you should be consulting with your doctor.”
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Since FDA has now approved the Pfizer last month, Ohio’s public colleges and universities are free to require it even after the law takes effect in October.
Ohio State University announced its vaccine requirement on August 24, one day after the FDA granted full approval to the Pfizer vaccine.
The university is requiring all students, faculty, and staff to receive their first vaccine dose by October 15.
