Bills to limit mandatory vaccines for childhood illnesses such as measles and polio have surfaced in more than 15 states, buoyed by President Trump’s health secretary nominee.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who questions the safety of some vaccines, is preparing for a fraught Senate confirmation process that would put him in charge of the Department of Health and Human Services, the federal agency that oversees the nation’s immunization policies.
Mr. Kennedy, an environmental lawyer who co-founded the anti-vaccine legal advocacy group Children’s Health Defense and led it until his nomination, is scheduled to appear before the Senate Finance Committee on Wednesday for the first of two confirmation hearings.
Advocates of the bills say the increased rarity of once-deadly childhood illnesses has made vaccinations unnecessary for many families. Most medical experts reject that view.
“There [are] no endogenous measles, mumps, rubella [viral infection], diphtheria or wild-type (natural) polio in the United States,” Dr. Meryl Nass, an internist and a scientific board member at Children’s Health Defense, told The Washington Times. “In other words, all these infections were wiped out and only occur when infected people cross the border and bring them in.”
The Maine Board of Licensure in Medicine suspended Dr. Nass’ license for prescribing hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin to COVID-19 patients. She said that “parents have a right to informed consent and to refuse vaccinations for illnesses that have essentially been wiped out.”
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Leading medical experts interviewed by The Times warned that expanding vaccine exemptions could be deadly for at-risk children. They noted that most families support the nation’s decades-old vaccination schedule to prevent the recurrence of several illnesses that once decimated children.
“Polls consistently show broad public support for requiring vaccination for school attendance,” said Dr. Joshua M. Sharfstein, a health policy and management professor at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. “Weakening vaccination policies increases the risk for unnecessary outbreaks and will eventually lead to children becoming seriously ill and dying of preventable diseases.”
In a survey released Tuesday, the University of Pennsylvania’s Annenberg Public Policy Center reported that 73% of adults supported “making it mandatory for parents to vaccinate their children against preventable diseases such as measles, mumps and rubella.” The number is down from 77% in 2019.
According to many doctors, families’ right to refuse inoculation should be limited. The issue remains a legal gray area.
“People should be able to make informed decisions and be provided with all the information needed to make the best decision for themselves,” said Dr. Craig Escude, a family physician and fellow of the American Academy of Developmental Medicine. “But this must be balanced with the risk to others around them.”
In an analysis published Monday, The Associated Press found that the most recent anti-vaccination bills have sought to expand religious exemptions to school vaccine requirements. They include proposals to waive routine shots in Connecticut, Mississippi, New York and Virginia and an Indiana bill that seeks to excuse medical students.
Other bills would establish vaccine injury databases or require doctors to warn parents about possible side effects of immunization.
Some states have already enacted such policies. West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey, a Republican, signed an executive order on his first day in office this month that lets families obtain religious exemptions from school vaccinations, building on a 2023 Mississippi decision.
Only Connecticut, California, New York and Maine forbid religious exemptions to mandatory vaccines.
“States should follow the notable example of Hawaii, which is seeking to limit frivolous exemptions to school vaccine entry requirements,” said Dr. Amesh Adalja, an infectious disease specialist and senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security.
Religious experts expressed mixed opinions on citing God to avoid inoculation.
“Anything that puts lives in danger is a violation of the commandment ‘Thou shalt not kill,’ whether it is reckless driving or not getting vaccinated,” said the Rev. Thomas Reese, a Jesuit priest and senior analyst at Religion News Service. “Freedom is not an absolute if it endangers others.”
Alex McFarland, a former president of Southern Evangelical Seminary and College in Charlotte, North Carolina, blamed stringent pandemic health policies for scaring families away from vaccines. He pointed to the rushed development of COVID-19 shots that federal officials forced on workers through public health mandates.
“Parents need to be recognized as the deciding authority when it comes to their children because children are not the property of the state,” Mr. McFarland said. “State mandates in these cases are wrong, and state-level legislation can provide welcome exemptions.”
Reports have shown that vaccine hesitancy has grown since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic despite years of evidence that immunizations benefit children.
A Gallup survey released in August found that 69% of adults considered childhood vaccines important, down from 94% in 2001. The polling firm chalked up the decline to increased skepticism among Republicans and Republican-leaning independents since 2019.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, most states lag behind the vaccination thresholds required to protect small children from preventable illnesses.
Dr. Peter Hotez, co-director of the Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, blamed a surge in “anti-vaccine activism” for driving down immunization rates.
“Depending on what happens in state legislatures this year, we could see significant returns of pertussis [whooping cough] cases, measles outbreaks, even polio,” Dr. Hotez said.
Josh Blackman, a constitutional law professor at South Texas College of Law in Houston, said state religious vaccine exemptions could spark legal challenges.
“The Supreme Court has not squarely addressed the issue of state vaccine mandates in many years,” Mr. Blackman said.
• This article is based in part on wire service reports.
• Sean Salai can be reached at ssalai@washingtontimes.com.
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