---
title: HB 1350. Georgia Medical Freedom Act; enact
collection: bills
id: 2025-2026/hb1350
cite_as: HB 1350, 2025-2026 Regular Session (Ga.)
canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1350
md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1350.md
text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1350/text
source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/73294
date: 2026-02-19
status: introduced
corpus_version: bills-2026-09-13
license: Public record of the Georgia General Assembly, via LegiScan; see about.md
publisher: Georgia Commons, an independent project of Georgia Civic Data. Not the State of Georgia. Not legal advice.
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omitted: votes and history
omitted_chars: 129
omitted_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1350.md?full=1
bill_number: HB 1350
session: 2025-2026 Regular Session
session_slug: 2025-2026
chamber: House
bill_type: bill
status_date: 2026-02-17
last_action: House Second Readers
sponsors:
- Noelle Kahaian
- Charlice Byrd
- Todd Jones
- David Clark
- Carter Barrett
- Emory Dunahoo
text_version: Introduced
has_text: true
legiscan_url: https://legiscan.com/GA/bill/HB1350/2025
upstream_id: 2118545
summaries_model: claude-sonnet-5
topic_tags:
- vaccine mandates
- medical freedom
- public health law
- school policy
- employment rights
---
# HB 1350. Georgia Medical Freedom Act; enact
## Text
House Bill 1350
By: Representatives Kahaian of the 81st, Byrd of the 20th, Jones of the 25th, Clark of the 100th,
Barrett of the 24th, and others
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
To amend Title 31 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to health, so as to
protect the rights of individuals to make autonomous decisions regarding medical
interventions; to provide for definitions; to prohibit business entities from denying,
restricting, or otherwise penalizing an individual's access to services, products, venues,
education, training, trade, or transportation based on refusal of medical interventions; to
prohibit business entities from requiring medical interventions as a condition of employment
or contract work; to prohibit ticket issuers from discriminating or denying access based on
an individual's refusal of medical interventions; to prohibit schools from mandating medical
interventions; to prohibit government entities or officials from requiring medical
interventions; to prohibit employers from providing differential compensation, benefits, or
treatment based on medical interventions; to permit the requirement of personal protective
equipment under certain conditions; to provide for enforcement; to prohibit contradiction by
laws, rules, regulations, or policies; to prohibit exclusion based on medical interventions; to
repeal the authority of the Department of Public Health and all county boards of health to
require persons to submit to vaccinations or other measures to prevent contagious or
infectious diseases; to provide for related matters; to provide a short title; to repeal
conflicting laws; and for other purposes.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:
SECTION 1.
This Act shall be known and may be cited as the "Georgia Medical Freedom Act."
SECTION 2.
Title 31 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to health, is amended in
Chapter 2A, relating to the Department of Public Health, by adding a new article to read as
follows:
"ARTICLE 5
31-2A-80.
As used in this article, the term:
(1) 'Business entity' means a corporation, association, partnership, sole proprietorship,
limited liability company, or other legal entity, whether organized for profit or not for
profit.
(2) 'Government entity' means an office, agency, authority, department, commission,
board, body, division, instrumentality, or institution of the executive, legislative, or
judicial branch of the state government and any county, municipal corporation, or
consolidated government within this state.
(3) 'Medical intervention' means a medical procedure, treatment, device, drug, injection,
medication, or medical action taken to monitor, diagnose, prevent, treat, or cure a disease
or alter the health or biological function of a person. Such term includes but is not
limited to masks, vaccines, biologics, swabs, tests including genetic and genomic testing,
pills, capsules, creams, sprays, liquids, injections, chips, devices, and monitors.
(4) 'School' means any licensed day care, preschool, or child care center; any public or
private pre-kindergarten, elementary school, secondary school, technical school, trade
school, vocational school, college, university, or institution of postsecondary education;
or any other setting where education or training occurs.
(5) 'Ticket issuer' means any individual or business entity that issues, sells, or resells
tickets of admission to athletic contests, concerts, theater performances, amusements,
exhibitions, or other entertainment events held in this state.
31-2A-81.
(a) No business entity shall deny, restrict, or otherwise penalize an individual's access to
services, products, venues, education, training, trade, or transportation based on the
individual's refusal of a medical intervention.
(b) No business entity shall require a medical intervention as a condition of employment
or contract work.
(c) No ticket issuer shall discriminate against or deny access to any person at an event
based on their status with respect to any medical intervention.
(d) No school shall mandate a medical intervention for any person to attend a class,
meeting, or event at, enter the campus or buildings of, or be employed by such school. No
school shall mandate a medical intervention for any person to attend or participate in any
extracurricular activities, including, but not limited to, clubs, performances, arts, or
athletics.
(e) No government entity or official shall require an individual to use a medical
intervention for any purpose, including, but not limited to, as a condition to:
(1) Access to government services;
(2) Receipt of licenses, permits, or benefits;
(3) Use of public buildings, facilities, infrastructure, or transportation; or
(4) Employment or contract work.
(f) No employer shall provide differential compensation, benefits, or treatment based on
an employee's decision to accept or decline a medical intervention; provided, however, that
employers may permit employees to take time off to obtain medical interventions.
(g) Any requirements for medical interventions that are not disallowed under this article
remain subject to applicable laws or legal precedent providing for or protecting exemptions
and reasonable accommodations.
(h)(1) A business entity or government entity may require an employee to use personal
protective equipment as part of occupational safety standards, provided such
requirements are consistent with state or federal law, including, but not limited to, the
federal Occupational Safety and Health Act, and do not discriminate based on medical
intervention status.
(2) No individual shall be compelled to wear or otherwise be subjected to personal
protective equipment for a specific purpose that is authorized solely under an emergency
use authorization issued by the United States Food and Drug Administration.
(i) Nothing in this article shall be construed to prevent compliance with child welfare laws
of the state.
31-2A-82.
(a) The Attorney General of this state or a prosecuting attorney for a city, county, or
consolidated government, upon receipt of complaint or upon his or her own initiative after
an investigation shows a violation has occurred, is authorized to bring a civil action in any
appropriate superior court to enforce the provisions of this article.
(b) The court may grant as relief, as it deems appropriate, any permanent or temporary
injunction, temporary restraining order, or other order and may award reasonable attorney's
fees and court costs.
31-2A-83.
(a) No law, administrative rule, regulation, or policy by any state or local government
entity shall contradict this article.
(b) The provisions of this article shall not be suspended, nullified, or otherwise disregarded
during any declared emergency, public health crisis, or state of emergency issued by any
local, state, or federal authority.
31-2A-84.
No otherwise healthy individual shall be excluded for private or public activities based on
such individual having declined a medical intervention during an outbreak or declared
emergency, public health crisis, or state of emergency."
SECTION 3.
Said title is further amended in Chapter 12, relating to control of hazardous conditions,
preventable diseases, and metabolic disorders, by revising Code Section 31-12-3, relating to
power to require immunization and other preventive measures, as follows:
"31-12-3.
(a) The department and all county boards of health are empowered to require, by
appropriate rules and regulations, persons located within their respective jurisdictions to
submit to vaccination against contagious or infectious disease where the particular disease
may occur, whether or not the disease may be an active threat. The department may, in
addition, require such other measures to prevent the conveyance of infectious matter from
infected persons to other persons as may be necessary and appropriate. The department
shall promulgate appropriate rules and regulations for the implementation of the provisions
of this Code section in the case of a declaration of a public health emergency and shall
include provisions permitting consideration of the opinion of a person's personal physician
as to whether the vaccination is medically appropriate or advisable for such person. Such
rules and regulations shall be adopted pursuant to Chapter 13 of Title 50, the 'Georgia
Administrative Procedure Act,' but shall be automatically referred by the Office of
Legislative Counsel to the House of Representatives and Senate Committees on Judiciary.
(b) In the absence of an epidemic or immediate threat thereof, this Code section shall not
apply to any person who objects in writing thereto on grounds that such immunization
conflicts with his religious beliefs. Reserved."
SECTION 4.
All laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed.
## Summaries written by Georgia Commons
The following was written by claude-sonnet-5 from the text above and is not part of the bill. Quote the text, not the summary.
House Bill 1350 would bar Georgia businesses, schools, employers, ticket sellers, and government agencies from requiring vaccines or other medical interventions, and would strip the Department of Public Health and county boards of health of their power to mandate vaccination during disease outbreaks.
### Plain-language summary
Georgia law currently lets the Department of Public Health and county boards of health require people to be vaccinated against contagious diseases, especially during outbreaks or public health emergencies. House Bill 1350 would reverse that. It creates a new article in Title 31 of Georgia law called the "Georgia Medical Freedom Act" that broadly bars businesses, schools, employers, ticket sellers for events, and government entities from denying someone access to services, jobs, education, or venues because that person refused a "medical intervention," a term defined broadly to include vaccines, tests, masks, drugs, and monitoring devices.
The bill lets employers still require personal protective equipment tied to occupational safety rules, but not equipment tied only to an FDA emergency use authorization. It authorizes the Attorney General or local prosecutors to sue over violations. It also repeals the current authority of the Department of Public Health and county boards of health to mandate vaccination or other disease-prevention measures, replacing that Code section with the word "Reserved." These changes would take effect once the bill becomes law, with no separate effective date stated.
### What it does
- Creates a new article in Title 31 banning businesses from denying services, jobs, education, or transportation to people who refuse a medical intervention such as a vaccine, test, or mask.
- Bars schools at every level, from day care through college, from requiring medical interventions for attendance, enrollment, employment, or extracurricular activities.
- Prohibits government entities and officials from requiring medical interventions as a condition of government services, licenses, permits, public facility use, or employment.
- Bans employers from giving different pay or benefits based on whether an employee accepted or declined a medical intervention, though employees can still take time off to get one.
- Repeals the Department of Public Health's and county boards of health's current legal authority (O.C.G.A. § 31-12-3) to require vaccination or other measures against contagious disease.
- Authorizes the Attorney General or local prosecutors to sue in superior court to enforce the new rules, with courts able to issue injunctions and award attorney's fees.
### Who it affects
Businesses, employers, schools and colleges, ticket sellers for events, government agencies and officials, and individual employees or students are all directly covered. The Department of Public Health and county boards of health lose their current vaccination-mandate authority, which also affects how the state could respond to future disease outbreaks.
### Why it matters
If enacted, employers, schools, and event venues in Georgia could no longer require vaccination, testing, or masking as a condition of participation, even during a declared disease outbreak or public health emergency, and the state's public health agencies would lose their power to order vaccination against contagious diseases.
### Key provisions
- Section 2 adds new Code sections (O.C.G.A. §§ 31-2A-80 through 31-2A-84) defining "medical intervention," "business entity," "government entity," "school," and "ticket issuer" broadly.
- Section 2 (§31-2A-81) prohibits businesses, schools, ticket issuers, employers, and government entities from denying access, employment, or benefits based on refusal of a medical intervention.
- Section 2 (§31-2A-81(h)) allows employers to require personal protective equipment under occupational safety standards but bars compelling equipment authorized only under an FDA emergency use authorization.
- Section 2 (§31-2A-82) lets the Attorney General or local prosecutors bring civil enforcement suits, with courts able to grant injunctions and attorney's fees.
- Section 2 (§31-2A-83) states these protections cannot be suspended during any declared emergency or public health crisis and cannot be overridden by conflicting state or local rules.
- Section 3 strikes the existing text of O.C.G.A. § 31-12-3, which currently empowers the Department of Public Health and county boards of health to require vaccination, and replaces it with "Reserved," eliminating that authority.
- Section 4 repeals all conflicting laws.
## Status
- Status: Introduced (2026-02-17)
- Last action: House Second Readers (2026-02-19)
- Sponsors: Noelle Kahaian, Charlice Byrd, Todd Jones, David Clark, Carter Barrett, Emory Dunahoo
- Official page: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/73294
> The history, votes, and amendments (129 characters) are at https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1350.md?full=1