Thursday, Jul. 1, 2021
Is there an effort to shut down Tennessee’s health department for encouraging teens to get vaccinated?
On June 16, 2021, a Tennessee legislature committee discussed efforts to vaccinate minors. Rep. Scott Cepicky, a Republican, moved to “dissolve and reconstitute” the state health department over concerns that it was “coercing” children into getting vaccinated.
Cepicky and other lawmakers took issue with a department memo sent to vaccine providers about the “mature minor doctrine”—a 1987 state ruling that permits minors 14 and up to receive health care without parental consent. Cepicky also objected to department ads displaying children smiling with a bandage on their arms, suggesting that they amounted to “peer pressure” and “guilt-tripping” given the “impressionable” nature of “young people…wanting to fit in.”
The department clarified that its intent was to be informative, not promotional.
The Republican-led committee plans to reconvene and continue its discussion in July.
This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.
Sources
- Daily Memphian Lawmakers look to dissolve state health department over teen vaccines
- Local 24 Memphis Republican lawmakers threaten to dissolve the Tennessee Department of Health for ‘guilt-tripping’ kids to get vaccinated
- WZTV (Nashville) Rural Tennessee counties at risk if lawmakers pull the plug on state health department
- State of Tennessee Department of Health: Mature minor doctrine
- State of Tennessee Tweet by Department of Health: ‘Give it a shot‘
About fact briefs
Fact briefs are bite-sized, well-sourced explanations that offer clear "yes" or "no" answers to questions, confusions, and unsupported claims circulating online. They rely on publicly available data and documents, often from the original source. Fact briefs are written and published by Gigafact contributor publications.
See all fact briefs
Between 2020 and 2022, under close editorial supervision, Gigafact contracted a group of freelance writers and editors to test the concepts for fact briefs and provide inputs to our software development process. We call this effort Gigafact Foundry. Over the course of these two years, Gigafact Foundry writers published over 1500 fact briefs in response to claims they found online. Their important work forms the basis of Gigafact formats and editorial guidelines, and is available to the public on Gigafact.org. Readers should be aware that while there is still a lot of relevant information to be found, not all fact briefs produced by Gigafact Foundry reflect Gigafact's current methods and standards for fact briefs. If you come across any that you feel are out of date and need to be looked at with fresh eyes, don't hesitate to contact us at support@gigafact.org.
Learn MoreLatest Fact Briefs
Is there a scientific consensus that life begins at conception?
Thursday, Aug. 4, 2022
Do countries around the world subsidize fossil fuels?
Wednesday, Aug. 3, 2022
Is the repeal of Roe v. Wade expected to increase the maternal death rate?
Wednesday, Jul. 27, 2022