141st APHA Annual Meeting

In This section

279311
Are you ready for some outbreaks? "Tim Tebow Laws" and childhood immunization

Monday, November 4, 2013 : 12:30 PM - 12:45 PM

Ross D. Silverman, JD, MPH , Medical Humanities, SIU School of Medicine, Springfield, IL
Mike Parenteau, MD, JD , Southern Illinois University School of Medicine, Springfield, IL
In 2012, South Carolina became the 30th state to pass a law allowing home-schooled students to participate in the interscholastic activities of public schools. Known as “Tim Tebow” laws, after the home-schooled Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback who used Florida's law to play football in high school, such laws are touted as being necessary to provide home school children access to the educational and enrichment opportunities and services available to those educated in a larger school setting. The structure of such laws vary widely from state to state insofar as the entrance requirements needed to gain access to the public school organizations. State laws regulating home school settings do not generally require proof of childhood immunization. Furthermore, many Tim Tebow laws, including that of South Carolina, do not hold home-schooled participants to the same requirements for proof of immunization or immunization exemption as students directly enrolling in public schools. While not universal, previous studies have shown significantly higher rates of exemptors clustering in home-school settings, and outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases starting and spreading via gatherings of unprotected populations at sporting and other public events. This presentation will discuss the legal, ethical, political, policy and public health concerns raised by the various state Tim Tebow laws, and offer recommendations to decrease the extant public health risks associated with current policies.

Learning Areas:
Ethics, professional and legal requirements
Protection of the public in relation to communicable diseases including prevention or control
Public health or related laws, regulations, standards, or guidelines
Public health or related public policy

Learning Objectives:
Describe the growing trend of state laws authorizing home schooled students to participate in public school activities; Compare childhood immunization standards and rates in home school and public school educational systems; Discuss the legal, ethical, political, policy and public health concerns raised related to herd immunity, immunization registries, and vaccine-preventable illness outbreak protection, surveillance and response; Describe potential policy solutions to address such concerns.

Keywords: Immunizations, Law

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I have published numerous peer-reviewed articles on childhood immunization law, ethics and policy.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.