Alabama reintroduces Conscientious Right to Refuse Act
A bill titled the Alabama Conscientious Right to Refuse Act (House Bill 12), reintroduced in July 2025, aims to extend legal protections to individuals refusing vaccines or face masks—including from discrimination by occupational licensing boards . Specifically, the bill would prohibit such boards from denying, suspending, revoking, or refusing to issue or renew a professional license based on an applicant's or licensee’s immunization status—or their refusal to wear a facial covering or take certain drugs or vaccines. It also allows affected individuals to seek injunctions and enables the state attorney general to sue boards for violations, while protecting the attorney general from federal penalties if enforcing the measure. The provision mirrors earlier, similar proposals from 2023 and 2025, which stalled in committee.