HB1350: HB1350 Georgia Medical Freedom Act; enact

Currently, Georgia law lets the Department of Public Health and county boards of health require people to be vaccinated against contagious diseases, subject to a religious exemption when there is no active epidemic. This bill, called the Georgia Medical Freedom Act, would add a new article to Title 31 of Georgia's health code broadly banning businesses, schools, employers, ticket sellers, and government agencies from requiring medical interventions, defined broadly to include vaccines, tests, masks, pills, injections and monitoring devices, or from punishing someone for refusing one. Under the bill, businesses could not deny services or jobs based on a person's refusal, schools could not require interventions to attend class or activities, and employers could not pay or treat workers differently based on their choice, though employees could still take time off to get treatments. Personal protective equipment could still be required for occupational safety unless it is authorized only under an FDA emergency use authorization. The Attorney General or local prosecutors could sue to enforce these rules. Section 3 separately revises O.C.G.A. § 31-12-3, the law governing the health department's power to require vaccinations, consistent with the bill's stated goal of repealing that authority.

• Creates a new article in Title 31 banning businesses from denying goods, services, jobs, or contract work to people who refuse a medical intervention such as a vaccine, test, or medication.
• Prohibits schools, from day care through college, from requiring medical interventions for enrollment, campus access, employment, or extracurricular activities.
• Bars government entities and officials from conditioning services, licenses, permits, public facility use, or employment on accepting a medical intervention.
• Stops employers from giving different pay, benefits, or treatment based on an employee's choice to accept or decline a medical intervention.
• Allows the Attorney General or local prosecutors to file civil lawsuits in superior court to enforce the new rules, including seeking injunctions and attorney's fees.
• Revises O.C.G.A. § 31-12-3, the law describing the health department's authority to require vaccinations against contagious disease.

Businesses of all kinds, employers, schools and day cares, ticket sellers for concerts and sporting events, state and local government agencies, the Department of Public Health, county boards of health, and any individual asked to undergo a medical procedure, vaccine, test, or device as a condition of work, school, or public life.

If enacted, Georgians could not be required to get vaccines, tests, or other medical interventions to keep a job, attend school, use government services, or buy tickets to events, even during a declared public health emergency, which would change how businesses, schools, and health officials respond to disease outbreaks.

• Section 2 adds new Code Sections 31-2A-80 through 31-2A-84 defining 'medical intervention' broadly to include vaccines, tests, drugs, devices, and monitors.
• O.C.G.A. § 31-2A-81 prohibits businesses, schools, ticket issuers, government entities, and employers from requiring or penalizing refusal of a medical intervention, with an exception for personal protective equipment tied to occupational safety standards.
• O.C.G.A. § 31-2A-81(h)(2) bars compelling anyone to use protective equipment authorized only under an FDA emergency use authorization.
• O.C.G.A. § 31-2A-82 lets the Attorney General or local prosecutors sue in superior court to enforce the article, with courts able to award injunctions and attorney's fees.
• O.C.G.A. § 31-2A-83 states no state or local law, rule, or policy may contradict the article, even during a declared emergency.
• O.C.G.A. § 31-2A-84 forbids excluding an otherwise healthy person from private or public activities for declining a medical intervention during an outbreak or emergency.
• Section 3 revises O.C.G.A. § 31-12-3, the health department's power to require vaccination, consistent with the bill's stated goal of repealing that authority for the Department of Public Health and county boards of health.

1. 2026-02-19House Second Readers (House)
2. 2026-02-18House First Readers (House)
3. 2026-02-17House Hopper (House)

• Noelle Kahaian (R, HD-081)Primary sponsor
• Charlice Byrd (R, HD-020)
• Todd Jones (R, HD-025)
• David Clark (R, HD-100)
• Carter Barrett (R, HD-024)
• Emory Dunahoo (R, HD-031)

• medical freedom
• vaccine mandates
• public health law
• employer requirements
• school health policy