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<\/p>\nA bill loosening child vaccination mandates was stricken from this week\u2019s special session. Florida House Speaker Daniel Perez announced Tuesday morning that he did not see a reason for the House to take on the Medical Freedom Act.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is some concern here, on my behalf, about children being in school without measles, mumps, polio, and chickenpox vaccines that have been working for decades,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
What is Medical Freedom?<\/p>\n
Medical Freedom, or S.B. 1756, passed through the Senate during the scheduled legislative session earlier this year, but its companion bill died in the Florida House.<\/p>\n
Earlier this month, the Senate announced that the Medical Freedom Act would be one of the priority bills legislators would be working on this week.<\/p>\n
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Fl Senate<\/p>\n
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Jacksonville Republican Senator Clay Yarborough sponsoring SB 1756, “Medical Freedom.” The bill proposes limiting state health officers’ power to mandate emergency vaccinations, expanding religious exemptions for school kids to include conscience exemptions, and requiring new parental acknowledgment forms before vaccinating minors.<\/p>\n
If passed, the law would have allowed several new health policies. One is a parent\u2019s ability to waive the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine for their children attending K-12 schools due to conscientious or philosophical reasons. Previously, Florida parents could only be exempted for religious reasons.<\/p>\n
The law would have also required healthcare workers to provide risk and benefit information about specific vaccines to parents before administering them to a child.<\/p>\n
Frustrated support<\/p>\n
\u201cIt’s just been very disappointing to see the House speaker essentially put his personal vendettas with the governor over the will of the people,\u201d said Justin Harvey, an Orange County resident and advocate ending vaccine mandates.<\/p>\n
Perez has repeatedly clashed with Gov. Ron DeSantis. Previously, Perez blocked other legislation that DeSantis wished to pass in an effort to limit the Florida House from becoming an extension of executive power. Last year, DeSantis called for a special session to pass legislation on illegal immigration. Perez, and Senate President Ben Albritton, rejected DeSantis\u2019 legislation and passed their own.<\/p>\n
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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis posted to the platform X on Tuesday after House Speaker Perez announced the house would not be taking on the Medical Freedom bill. “When given the chance to deliver for their constituents, not a single Republican House member could even be bothered to file a bill. Typical political shenanigans,” DeSantis said.<\/p>\n
These types of repeated clashes give some residents pause over Perez\u2019s true intentions for blocking bills like Medical Freedom.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt’s frustrating to see one person sort of stall such a wide effort,\u201d Harvey said. \u201cThe House Speaker will not advance the bill. Why exactly that is, we don’t know, but it seems like it’s everything that we want, and we just want people to be able to make their decisions, their medical decisions.\u201d<\/p>\n
Harvey, and many like him, aren\u2019t necessarily anti-vaccine. Rather, like the bill\u2019s namesake, he wants to see less government around medical decisions.<\/p>\n
\u201cEveryone should be responsible for their own health,\u201d he said. \u201cAt the end of the day, everyone should have the ability to take no vaccines or take as many vaccines as they like.\u201d<\/p>\n
Criticism of the bill<\/p>\n
While there are those who want to see Medical Freedom pass, there are many who criticize the proposed change in vaccine policy, with groups citing two arguments.<\/p>\n
First, the majority of Florida parents oppose ending vaccine mandates. In October, the University of North Florida released results from its survey that found nearly two-thirds of Floridians oppose, either strongly or somewhat, the proposed policy change, with about<\/p>\n
Half of all respondents (48%) said they strongly oppose it.<\/p>\n
The survey also found that about a third of the sample supports removing vaccine mandates, with 20% feeling strongly about it.<\/p>\n
The second argument comes down to waning vaccine interest and a resurgence in measles cases.<\/p>\n
So far this year, Florida has reported 145 measles cases. The state\u2019s online public database shows measles cases starting from 1992. This year recorded more than triple Florida\u2019s previous highest year (1992) for measles, and accounts for a third of all Florida\u2019s cases.<\/p>\n
As for vaccine interest, Florida\u2019s immunization rate has fallen since 2019.<\/p>\n
The 2025-2026 class data shows that state kindergarteners had a vaccine rate of 88% for the second year in a row.<\/p>\n
Experts say that\u2019s not enough for community protection against one of the most contagious diseases in the world.<\/p>\n