Governor Kim Reynolds signed a bill into law Friday that makes it easier for Iowans to get medical and religious exemptions to workplace COVID-19 vaccine requirements.

The bill passed overwhelmingly during a special legislative session with a tally of 68 to 27 in the House and 45 to 4 in the Senate. District 39 State Senator Kevin Kinney (D) did not oppose the bill, “I voted in support of that bill for the simple fact that if someone truly has got a medical or religious exemption that they would have the right to receive unemployment benefits.”

The bill includes that if someone gets fired for not getting vaccinated, they would remain eligible to receive unemployment benefits. As of last Friday over one in five Iowa patients that are currently hospitalized for COVID-19 are in intensive care, with 82.8% of those patients not fully vaccinated, according to the state coronavirus dashboard. District 78 Representative Jarad Klein (R) says this bill seeks to protect Iowans’ civil liberties, “If they decide they do not want to get a vaccine for whatever reason they may have, whether it be religious, medical, for what their reason is, that is their, in my opinion, should be their decision. And it might result in an unfortunate result.”

Klein anticipates looking at further legislation on this issue when their regular session begins in January.