The American Medical Associated (AMA) has voted to lobby for laws that would allow severely allergic children to take life-saving medicine to school, The Daily Journal reports.

Many school districts and 18 states have bans that do not allow children to take medicine to school.

The AMA's stance refers to medicine like prescription epinephrine and other injectable drugs that treat anaphylaxis (severe allergic reactions), which can cause swelling, difficulty breathing, loss of consciousness, and death.

"Life-threatening allergic reactions to foods can easily happen at school or away from home, and an epinephrine injection at the first sign of a reaction is critical," says AMA board member Dr. Rebecca Patchin.