COLUMBUS, Ohio – Employers cannot refuse to hire, fire or “discriminate” against employees who have not and will not be vaccinated, under a newly introduced bill in the Ohio House.

House Bill 268 allows people to sue employers if their employment is affected by their lack of vaccinations. It’s the latest bill in the Ohio General Assembly that gives deference to the theories that immunizations are harmful, amidst a measles outbreak that is in part blamed on people believing misinformation about vaccinations.

HB 268 is sponsored by Reps. Ron Hood, a Pickaway County Republican, and Bernadine Kennedy Kent, a Columbus Democrat.

“It’s a freedom bill for people who are being coerced into having a vaccination, as a condition of employment,” Hood said.

A similar bill has been introduced in the past, but it was only directed at people who refused to get the flu vaccination. HB 268 is for all vaccinations.

Hood said people shouldn’t be coerced “to put a foreign substance in their body.”

Hood said that vaccinations help some people, but hurt others.

“For whatever reason, maybe they have an allergy to that vaccine or something like that. This is definitely a problem for some of the population.”

Actually, vaccine allergies are rare – and the symptoms tend to be mild in comparison to an infection from the disease that a vaccine would prevent, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Research published in 2015 in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology found that of 25.2 million vaccines given between 2009 and 2011, just 33 people suffered from anaphylaxis, which is a potentially life-threatening allergic reaction.

Vaccinations have all but eradicated many diseases – from diphtheria to polio – but a new generation of parents who refuse to vaccinate their children is threatening the progress that’s been made, experts say.

A George Washington University study found Russian bots exploited the rifts in the American vaccination debate on Twitter – including sending out anti-vax misinformation, according to CBS News.

HB 268 prohibits employers from taking an “adverse employment action” against employees who don’t vaccinate. But Ann Spicer, executive vice president of the Ohio Academy of Family Physicians, said that the bill doesn’t define what an adverse action is.

Hospitals can have strict vaccination requirements for employees, since patients with compromised immune systems, who weren’t able to get vaccinated, are at risk for disease, she said.

“Some hospital systems have required vaccination or moved the employee to a different area, maybe requiring the employee to wear a mask,” she said. “Is it an ‘adverse employee action’ if you require someone to wear a mask or if you assign them to work in another section of a hospital? I have a lot of questions.”

In March, Ohio Rep. Don Manning, a Mahoning County Republican, introduced a bill that would require school districts to notify parents of how they can keep their child from receiving required vaccinations.

Spicer said she’s concerned about public health with the bills. When a person chooses not to vaccinate, the decision doesn’t just affect them.

“You’re potentially harming other people who don’t have that choice, and exposing them to perhaps a life-threatening illness,” she said.