The Alabama House of Representatives passed a bill Tuesday requiring parental consent for a minor to receive a vaccine.

The bill, HB2, was introduced by Rep. Chip Brown, R-Mobile, and passed on a vote of 100-0.

This is the third year the legislation has been brought forth by Brown. It failed to pass the Senate during the 2024 legislative session.

Under current law, the age of medical consent is 14 but Brown has previously said children at that age are not capable of making well-informed decisions.

Brown said during the vote that he believes parents should have the final say in their child’s medical care.

“It’s not an anti vaccine bill, it’s just a parental rights bill,” Brown said. “In Alabama, the age of medical consent is 14, and so what this does, it just says simply that if a child is living under your roof, that you have to provide consent for them to get a vaccination.”

Brown’s push for the legislation started in 2021, after parents and legislators began complaining about children, at or above the age of medical consent, being able to obtain COVID-19 vaccines without a guardian’s permission.

If the parental consent bill passes it could prevent children who want to get vaccinated from doing so if their guardian disapproves.

Alabama’s toddler vaccination rates have already drastically fallen since the pandemic, specifically for the polio vaccine.

According to the latest data from the Alabama Department of Public Health, the vaccination rate for children between 19 and 47 months plunged from around 71% in October 2021 to just 65% last November across Alabama.

That equates to about 13,700 more unvaccinated toddlers in the state than just two years ago.

Brown’s bill now moves over to the Senate for potential passage.