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AP Investigation Finds 420+ State Bills to Weaken Vaccines, Fluoride and Milk Safety

Most enacted rollbacks were backed by four groups connected to Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

FILE - Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. listens to deputy chief of staff Stefanie Spear speaks to him during a hearing the Senate Finance Committee, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Sept. 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File)
FILE - Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. stands among students during an event announcing proposed changes to SNAP and food dye legislation, Friday, March 28, 2025, in Martinsburg, W. Va. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough, File)
FILE - Del Bigtree speaks against legislation to narrow exemptions to state-mandated vaccines during a rally at the state Capitol Tuesday, May 14, 2019, in Albany, N.Y. (AP Photo/Hans Pennink, File)
Ashlee Dahlberg takes photos of her daughters Ava, left, and Khloe, on the first day of school in front a memorial for their brother, Liam, in their yard in Lowell, Ind., on Wednesday, Aug. 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Laura Bargfeld)

Overview

  • AP identified more than 420 measures introduced in 2025 that target science-based public health protections, including at least 350 focused on vaccines.
  • At least 26 anti-vaccine laws were adopted in 11 states this year, with additional proposals still pending.
  • Four national groups — MAHA Action, Stand for Health Freedom, the National Vaccine Information Center, and the Weston A. Price Foundation — supported most enacted bills and mobilized activists with coordinated alerts, calls, and testimony.
  • Proposals ranged from discrimination protections for the unvaccinated to creating a criminal offense of “vaccine harm,” requiring blood banks to test for vaccination evidence, imposing 48-hour waiting periods, and copycat bills like Minnesota measures falsely labeling mRNA vaccines as “weapons of mass destruction.”
  • Vaccination coverage is declining and measles and whooping cough are resurging, with an Indiana family’s April loss of their 8-year-old and local data showing one in five kindergartners out of compliance underscoring the risks.