Dozens of States Tried to Roll Back Vaccine Laws. Here’s How They Fared.
By Amy Schoenfeld Walker and Lily Boyce
Vaccine advocates pushing against these bills said they found success reminding lawmakers that most of the public wanted to maintain childhood vaccine rules.
“One of our biggest calls to action is to let lawmakers know that their constituents want their schools to remain safe places to go,” said Jennifer Herricks, director of advocacy at American Families for Vaccines.
A few bills that passed echoed longstanding claims by Mr. Kennedy and the broader movement that vaccines are dangerous. For example, laws enacted in Louisiana, Mississippi and Oklahoma will require recent vaccines to be listed on the death reports of infants and children, which policy observers say is connected to a debunked claim that certain shots cause sudden infant death syndrome. Scientific research does not show a link between vaccinations and infant death.
Vaccine proponents say these bills are intended to sow doubt and may lead parents to second-guess vaccines, when scientists and doctors say they are safe.
“If you see a bill like that, you might think: We must not know enough,” said Dr. Herricks. “But vaccines are in large part responsible for babies and children living into adulthood.”