COLUMBUS, Ohio — A bill that pushes back against vaccine mandates went through another round of committee hearings Wednesday at the Statehouse.

Ohio House Republicans on a different committee approved it last week and sent it to the full House for a vote, but a majority of their caucus did not support the bill.

The Ohio House Commerce and Labor Committee heard substantially less testimony than expected Wednesday on House Bill 435, which is also called the Ohio COVID-19 Vaccine Fairness Act. However, those that did testify compared vaccine mandates to everything from plane crashes to slavery. 

"When we look back, we are going to discover that this was the civil rights issue of the 21st century," said Mitchell Marczewski, Founder of the Ohio Medical Freedom Coalition.

Marczewski, a lawyer from Zanesville, was one of a handful of people to address the committee. All opposed the bill. Marczewski equated making Ohioans take the COVID-19 vaccine to other historical issues like slavery, voting rights and segregation and impending plane crashes.

"What we have here is we've got a collision course,” said Marczewski. “We've got an aircraft taking off out of Atlanta. We have another one taking off out of Boston. They're an hour and a half apart. No, they haven't collided yet but they're on a collision course.”  

The bill bans any entity from mandating any COVID-19 vaccine that has not been fully approved by the FDA. Students and employees could refuse to take the shots based on medical reasons, natural immunity and personal or religious beliefs. Although, hospitals would still be allowed to require its staff to be vaccinated from COVID-19.​

Former state representative Ross McGregor, who owns a metal stamping company in Springfield, said HB 435 would allow “gaping exemptions” and make vaccine requirements “meaningless.”

"If I were to mandate a vaccination and I had an employee that said ‘I do not care to be vaccinated,’ then they say ‘I will go look for employment somewhere else’ in another company that perhaps is more to their liking,” said McGregor. “Likewise, if I were to mandate a vaccination in my company that might be attractive to someone else who said I would rather go work for Ross McGregor because his company I feel is safer. This legislation takes away that ability.”

More than half of the state who is eligible to take the COVID-19 vaccine has done so, but Ohio House Republicans admit they are listening to the outspoken minority who does not want to take the shots.​

"We're not trying to make this about the efficacy of the vaccine. I think most of us, a lot of us, agree that the vaccine works. It has more of a positive than certainly a negative. But at the same time, there are those out there that see it in a different light," said Rep. Dick Stein, R-Norwalk, who chairs the committee.

No new amendments were added to the bill Wednesday, but dozens are expected in the coming days. Assistant Majority Floor Leader Rick Carfagna, R-Genoa Township, who is a co-sponsor of the bill, warning his caucus the more expansive the bill gets the less likely it is to become law.

"Members have to be mindful of that and understand if we want to get something done, I think it's in everybody's best interest to do something that is narrowly focused, that is COVID specific but you need 50 votes," said Carfagna.

The Ohio Chamber of Commerce and Ohio Vaccine Coalition, made up of companies that represent nearly 2 million Ohioans, do not support the bill. On Thursday, the Commerce and Labor Committee will have another day of testimony. 

It is unclear what the fate of the bill is from there.