Rep. John Yarmuth (D-KY) said the government knows better than parents when it comes to vaccinating children against the Chinese coronavirus.
During a budget reconciliation markup meeting on Thursday, Yarmuth slammed an amendment sponsored by Rep. Mary Miller (R-IL) that proposes that schools must obtain parent or guardian consent before vaccinating children.
He said in opposition to the amendment:
I know I’ll get in a lot of trouble for this, but I want to refer to the sponsor’s premise for the amendment, and the first words out of her mouth were, ‘parents know what’s best for their children.’ I think the evidence is compelling and overwhelming and widespread that they don’t.
The congressman, who is also chairman of the Budget Committee, further emphasized that he believes “a lot of parents are misinformed” which is “why we have, literally, tens of thousands of kids now in hospitals and suffering from this virus.”
“One of the reasons that we need to avoid steps like this is that we need to protect kids from their parents,” he said. [emphasis added] “That is the unfortunate state of the country right now. And for that reason and many others, I will oppose the amendment.”
When introducing her amendment for discussion, Miller said her proposal is squarely focused on the acquisition of parental consent prior to the provision of medical care to minors, and contended that “parents know what’s best for their children — not any governing body.”
Breitbart News obtained the amendment on Friday, which would reportedly bolster “parental consent protections.” It reads:
A local educational agency that receives funding under this part may not offer vaccinations to minors on property owned or managed by such local educational agency without the consent of a parent or guardian.
Squad member Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) went as far as calling the proposal “nonsensical” and railed against people who refuse to follow “the science” of masks and vaccines.
“I believe we have to protect our children, and I think this amendment is nonsensical. It doesn’t go with the science. It doesn’t make any sense, and it is not protecting our children,” Jayapal said.
Rep. Mark Takano (D-CA) argued that Miller was creating a “straw man argument,” and that the problem needs no addressing because it is nonexistent.
“This is a nonsense amendment that is in search of a problem that does not exist,” Takano said.
Contrary to his disbelief, minors in at least 16 states can consent in certain situations to general medical care, according to a report from News Nation. Some states, including Alabama, Oregon and South Carolina, “give teenagers authority to consent to all health care decisions on their own,” National Public Radio reported.
“Others, including California and New York, allow children 12 and older to consent to vaccines for sexually transmitted diseases,” the report states.
Both Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC) and Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-NC) expressed disgust toward Democrat statements about Miller’s amendment. Wilson said:
I was actually appalled at the statement from Kentucky that we have to protect kids from parents. That’s outrageous. I want to thank the author because she exposed the view which is absolutely inconceivable to me that the government knows better than parents.
Foxx associated herself with Wilson’s comments and said she planned on voting yes for Miller’s amendment.
“…I believe what the gentleman from Kentucky and the gentlewoman from Washington have indicated [is] that it is not the right of the parents — that they would like to take the rights away, in their minds, to protect the children,” Foxx said.
In an exclusive statement to Breitbart News, Miller said her amendment “should not be a partisan issue”:
Parents should always be the ones making healthcare decisions for their own children. Not surprisingly, Democrats are rejecting parental rights in favor of an all-powerful government.
Last night, I offered an amendment that would restrict local education agencies from administering vaccines to children on school grounds without the consent of a parent. Believe it or not, children across our nation are being administered the vaccine without parental consent.
After I presented my amendment, Democrat leadership responded by saying that, “parents do NOT know what’s best for their kids,” and that government must “protect kids FROM their parents.”
Protecting parents’ unique ability to care for their children’s health should not be a partisan issue.
The congresswoman also tweeted her dismay, calling Yarmuth’s statement “unbelievable.”
The Education and Labor Committee ultimately opposed the amendment along party lines. The amendment has yet to go up for an official vote to be included in Democrats $3.5 trillion budget reconciliation, which doubles as a leftist wishlist.
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