RFK Jr. allies target states to lift school vaccination requirements

Longtime allies of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the nation’s health secretary, have launched a new initiative to repeal laws that for decades have required children to be vaccinated against measles, polio and other diseases before they enter daycare or kindergarten.

A newly formed coalition of vaccine activists is taking aim at laws seen as the linchpin of protection against deadly diseases. States have long required vaccinations for children before children can enter daycare or school, although some exceptions are possible.

“What we need to do is, damn it, break the dam,” Leslie Manookian, the sponsor of a law banning medical mandates in Idaho, told supporters on a recent call. “And that’s what this year is about: breaking the dam in the states where we believe it can happen first.”

Ms. Manookian is a leader of the Medical Freedom Act Coalition, a new umbrella group of at least 15 nonprofits advocating for an end to state laws that codify so-called medical regulations, most of which relate to vaccines.

So far, bills that would eliminate all or almost all school requirements have been introduced in at least nine states, ranging from Democratic states like New York, where there is no chance of passage, to states like New Hampshire, Georgia, Iowa and Idaho, where the proposals have gained some traction.

Many vaccine advocates see the state-level push as a second stage in dismantling the country’s vaccine infrastructure, building on Mr. Kennedy’s significant reduction in federally recommended vaccines.

While the strategy isn’t entirely new, it shows a sophisticated understanding of how to unravel more than 100 years of progress in protecting children from deadly pathogens, said Sara Rosenbaum, professor emeritus of health law at George Washington University and a former health official in the Clinton administration.

“They are drunk on their apparent power because one of them is in the HHS secretariat,” Ms. Rosenbaum said, referring to Mr. Kennedy’s position at the Health Department. “They believe now is the time to put everything on the line and not meet the standards at all.”

The new coalition’s groups include Children’s Health Defense, the nonprofit that Mr. Kennedy co-founded, and two others created to support his Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) initiative. One of them, the MAHA Institute, works on state policy and said it is hiring people to support the agenda.

Mr. Kennedy’s withdrawal from longstanding federal vaccination advice has sparked a flurry of activity at the state level. As his policies take hold, some Democratic-leaning states have formed their own alliances to oppose the new federal vaccination guidelines, while some Republican-led states have moved to enshrine them.

At a Heritage Foundation event with Mr. Kennedy this month, Kim Mack Rosenberg, general counsel for Children’s Health Defense, said lifting government requirements will be a top priority.

“Ultimately the goal is to repeal mandates,” Ms. Mack Rosenberg said.

“Especially when you attach these requirements to school attendance, it creates an incredibly difficult situation for families,” she added.

When asked about the push to lift school admission requirements at an event in Tennessee earlier this month, Kennedy said he was not involved in the effort. But he added: “I believe in freedom of choice,” drawing applause from the audience. He said he supports giving people the opportunity to make vaccination decisions with their families and doctors.

Ms. Manookian said the coalition’s efforts are aimed at ending what she sees as coercion surrounding all medical procedures. “It’s about putting power back in the hands of the individual,” she said in an interview.

Proposals to eliminate school-entry vaccination requirements have met with mixed fortunes, with some efforts stalled in Oklahoma and Indiana and others still pending, including in West Virginia. A bill in Arizona is also pending but is expected to face a veto from the governor, a Democrat, and a bill in New York is unlikely to pass the Democratic-controlled state legislature. Coalition supporters expect a bill to be introduced in Louisiana next month.

In Florida, despite state officials’ stated intention to eliminate childhood vaccination requirements, no bill has been introduced that would repeal school entry rules. However, one proposal would allow a “conscience” or personal belief exemption that would make it easier for parents to opt out of vaccinations.

The attempts to repeal state laws have alarmed pediatricians and other vaccine advocates, who say vaccinating young children is widespread among parents and the public.

Eliminating compulsory schooling is seen by health experts as a sure way to reduce vaccination rates, which would lead to a rise in measles and whooping cough cases and, later, possible outbreaks of rubella and polio. The fallout is visible in South Carolina, where a measles outbreak has affected more than 900 people, including at least 19 who were hospitalized with complications such as pneumonia and brain swelling.

At several schools at the center of the outbreak, fewer than 80 percent of students had received all required childhood vaccinations, far less than the 95 percent needed to curb the spread of the highly contagious measles virus.

Nevertheless, an effective protective barrier against the relaxation of vaccination regulations has emerged. Several polls show that voters would punish lawmakers who support abolishing compulsory schooling. In a recent Wall Street Journal poll, voters gave Democrats a 9 percent lead over Republicans when asked which party was best placed on vaccination policy.

Two polls commissioned by vaccine advocates and conducted by Republican-leaning companies found that voters in Florida and Tennessee would not support lawmakers who want to eliminate school vaccination requirements. A poll by Fabrizio Ward, a firm President Trump relies on, found that swing voters in close congressional races would give about 20 percentage points to a Republican candidate who is critical of vaccinations.

“Vaccine skepticism is bad politics,” says Fabrizio Ward’s memo.

Vaccine advocates are still concerned about proposals in New Hampshire, Iowa, Idaho, Georgia and possibly other states that could end or sharply limit school-entry vaccination requirements.

“Before vaccinations, one in five children did not reach their fifth birthday,” said Jennifer Herricks, advocacy director for American Families for Vaccines, a nonprofit that receives some of its funding from vaccine manufacturers. “Introducing these guidelines has really helped protect children when they are most vulnerable to these diseases.”

In New Hampshire, vaccine skeptics dominated a lengthy hearing on a bill that would eliminate mandatory school vaccinations, but was amended to keep the polio vaccine. Health department officials said the proposal would put the state out of compliance with federal grants and cost it millions of dollars each year that would be spent vaccinating low-income children.

If the law passes, it could lead to “widespread uncontrolled illness,” said Megan Petty, director of the New Hampshire Bureau of Infectious Disease Control.

Idaho passed a law in 2025 that eliminates medical requirements for vaccinations or other interventions, but it does not specifically address or change vaccination requirements for daycare centers or schools, Ms. Manookian said.

She said she plans to support a new Idaho proposal that would do that. Some school districts in Idaho remained steadfast in adhering to vaccination mandates, despite existing law that generally prohibits medical orders, she said.

“The more schools and daycares actually play parent and interfere,” she said, “the more they harm themselves.”

Chris Anders, a Republican representative in West Virginia, introduced a bill this month that would eliminate mandatory vaccinations in schools, including a requirement that county health departments offer free vaccinations to low-income children. He said it was unlikely other lawmakers would advance the measure.

“If people decide not to get vaccinated, that is their decision,” he said. “Just like if they choose not to wear a seat belt, a motorcycle helmet or anything else. If they choose to do that, they will have to face the consequences.”

Last year in Texas, Gov. Greg Abbott quietly signed a bill that opened the door to lawsuits against vaccine manufacturers advertising in the state.

A 1986 federal law created a special court, the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program, to handle vaccine injury claims. Mr. Kennedy, who worked on a major lawsuit against a vaccine manufacturer, has long been a critic of the special court and says vaccine lawsuits should be easier to prosecute.

In Florida, Dr. Joseph Ladapo, the surgeon general, announced last fall that the state would lift the vaccination requirement. Since there is no proposal in the Legislature to make this happen, efforts to change state rules are moving forward in a watered-down form.

Officials in Florida want to lift the requirement to vaccinate children against varicella, or chickenpox; Hepatitis B, pneumococcus and Haemophilus influenzae type B or Hib, a disease that can be fatal.

The state held a contentious hearing on the plan in December. The witnesses included Jamie Schanbaum, whose fingers and lower leg were amputated after she became seriously ill with meningitis, which is prevented by the pneumococcal vaccine. She has advocated extensively for the vaccine, urging Florida leaders in December to maintain their vaccination mandates.

“It is very frustrating,” she said in an interview, “to see and experience the reality of today and that our most important and respected medical guidelines are not taken seriously.”

Emily Cochrane and Teddy Rosenbluth contributed reporting.