Before dumping on Tennessee, let me congratulate them for being one of the few states that is willing to let teenagers make medical decisions.
Unfortunately, that doesn’t seem to apply to government officials informing people that minors have a right to vaccinate:
Tennessee fired its top immunization official Monday, the official said, in retaliation for her attempts to let teenagers choose whether to be vaccinated against the novel coronavirus. . . .
According to Fiscus, lawmakers took offense when she sent a memo in which she explained to medical providers the state’s “Mature Minor Doctrine,” a legal mechanism by which they are allowed to inoculate minors 14 and above without consent from their parents.
The details of the Mature Minor Doctrine, which was established in 1987, are publicly available on the health department’s website.
Fiscus said the language in the letter was provided to her by the health department’s attorney, who told her at the time that it had been approved by the governor’s office and that she was allowed to share it with anyone.