Indiana University May Require Covid-19 Vaccines, Federal Judge Says

A federal judge has ruled Indiana University may require its students to submit proof of Covid-19 vaccination before returning to campus this fall, in a setback to an ongoing legal effort against vaccination requirements in higher education.

In a 101-page ruling released on Sunday, U.S. District Judge Damon R. Leichty said the university system had acted reasonably to protect public health when it demanded that all of its students, faculty and staff be fully immunized against Covid- 19 before July 1. with limited medical and religious exceptions.

Saying so, the judge dismissed an injunction sought by eight college and graduate students who claimed the university’s vaccination policy unconstitutionally infringed on their bodily autonomy and medical privacy.

The case is among the first to challenge the constitutionality of Covid-19 vaccine requirements at public universities.

Hundreds of private and public colleges and universities have adopted vaccination policies like that of Indiana University, in schools mainly clustered on the east and west coasts. Anti-vaccine activists have focused on public institutions, which are bound by constitutional restrictions as government entities, and have sued under the 14th Amendment and its protection of fundamental freedoms.