As states continue to consider COVID-19 mandates, lawmakers in at least one state want to make asking about a person's vaccination status off-limits.
Republican lawmakers in South Carolina have introduced legislation that would make it illegal for employers to ask workers about their coronavirus vaccination status, saying it's private medical information.
The proposed "don't ask" law would make it a misdemeanor criminal offense to inquire about someone else's vaccination status in an official capacity.
"Any employee, officer, agent, or other representative of a public, nonprofit, or private entity who inquires about the COVID-19 vaccination status of any student, employee, member, or anyone else seeking admission on the entity's premises is guilty of a misdemeanor," the bill reads.
In addition to workplaces, the law would also apply to admission at large venues, including concerts and sporting events.
Violators would be slapped with a hefty penalty up to $14,000. They could also face a year in prison.
Representative Mike Burns said the law is needed to protect unvaccinated people who are unfairly losing jobs and having their insurance rates inflated -- in some cases by an extra $100 more per week than vaccinated people.
Burns said discriminating against people who chose to be unvaccinated is "absolutely insane," adding that asking someone their vaccination status is akin to asking a woman if she is pregnant.
"I'm your employer, and I asked you if you're pregnant, I can't do that," Burns told Fox News Digital. "I can't ask you if you're thinking about getting pregnant. I can't ask you if you got STDs or HIV. I can't ask any of those private medical questions, but somehow it's alright to terminate people's employment because I didn't take this emergency-use-only vaccine. This is ridiculous."
Representative Sandy McGarry, who also sponsored the bill, hopes to see more lawmakers support the proposed law, which was introduced in the House on January 20.
"It is no one's business whether you are vaccinated or not," McGarry wrote on Facebook. "That is between you and your Dr."
Rep. William Chumley echoed the statement.
"The government has no place in making you or telling you to take the vaccination, or threatening your livelihood if you don't," Chumley told WHNS.
Burns admitted the legislation will likely suffer the same fate as most proposals and will not have a chance to become a law. Still, he and other lawmakers wanted to do something because "people are getting pretty sick and tired of these mandates."
The Supreme Court recently blocked a vaccine-or-test mandate from President Joe Biden's administration, which would have required all businesses with 100 or more employees to get vaccinated or submit a negative COVID test weekly to enter their workplace. The mandate had faced lawsuits from 27 states.
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