An unprecedented number of bills and resolutions aimed at weakening vaccine requirements are now law in Louisiana following a wave of successful legislation taking aim at public health authorities.
Over a half dozen bills and resolutions related to vaccination mostly sailed through the legislative session that ended June 3, and most have been signed by Republican Gov. Jeff Landry. Two still await his signature, which is expected.
The anti-vaccine movement, once promoted by a fringe cohort, is becoming more mainstream in the Louisiana statehouse, causing concern among doctors and public health officials who worry it is eroding decades of health policy and will result in more disease and death. The push also comes as vaccine exemptions among children have skyrocketed.
The legislation this session has been fueled by pandemic backlash, but politicians are also chipping away at a cornerstone of public health, critics say.
“This was the Trojan horse,” said Fred Mills, a pharmacist who retired as chairman of the Senate Health and Welfare Committee earlier this year after three terms as a Republican senator.
Like many critics, Mills said he worries the trend may impact the state's future response to infectious diseases and allow for the reemergence of illnesses, like measles, that could be prevented by vaccines.
“If we were in this day and age, could we have eradicated polio?" asked Mills. "I think the answer would be ‘no.’”
The legislation is a response to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Rep. Kathy Edmonston, R-Gonzales, who authored two of the bills. She proposed the legislation in previous sessions, but the bills were vetoed by then-Governor John Bel Edwards, a Democrat.
Rep. Kathy Edmonston, R-Gonzales, left, speaks with Rep. Beryl Amedee, R-Houma, during legislative session in the Louisiana House of Representatives, Tuesday, May 4, 2021, at the State Capitol in Baton Rouge, La.
“I think it has a lot to do with the COVID vaccine mandates, making people get something that they otherwise would not have gotten,” said Edmonston.
Concerns about the potential relationship between vaccines and conditions like autism and sudden infant death syndrome were also behind the push for state action.
Multiple large-scale studies have failed to find a link between inoculations and autism or SIDS.
Senate Health and Welfare Committee Chairman Fred Mills and Sen. Regina A. Barrow, D-Baton Rouge, as they prepare in March 2017 to reject a program elimination proposed by the Louisiana Department of Health as part of an effort to balance spending with available revenues for this budget year.
New laws
Louisiana's new laws and resolutions strip authority from public health institutions and make it easier for parents to opt out of vaccination for school-age children.
- HB46 prohibits any public or private school from requiring students to get a COVID-19 vaccination.
- HB47 requires schools to include opt-out information in any communication about required immunizations.
- HB908 prohibits discrimination in schools based on vaccination status.
- SB133 restricts the state from enforcing any rules issued by the World Health Organization, the United Nations and the World Economic Forum.
- SB357 allows a majority of either the House or Senate to end a public health emergency.
- HR292 requests that the Louisiana Department of Health conduct a study on the unexpected deaths of children under the age of two related to the administration of vaccines.
- HR222 requests that the state health department investigate the factors affecting children diagnosed with autism.
All but HB46 and HB47 have been signed by Landry.
State Rep. Beryl Amedee, R-Houma, left, authored a bill prohibiing discrimination in schools based on vaccination status.
Vaccinations drop
Before the pandemic, anti-vaccine sentiment was more associated with left-wing extremists, said Charles Stoecker, a health economist who studies vaccine policy at Tulane University. Historically, Louisiana has had high vaccination rates, especially for a state that allows for school exemptions for any reason. Since the pandemic, the anti-vaccination movement has taken hold among conservatives.
“It's a real tragedy that came out of the COVID times – the politicization of a vaccination,” said Stoecker.
Louisiana’s rates for standard childhood vaccinations like the MMR and DTaP saw some of the biggest yearly drops among all states, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In a single year, MMR vaccination dropped nearly 2 percentage points. The vaccine that protects against diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis dropped about three percentage points.
Over 90% of kindergarteners were up to date on vaccinations in 2021-2022 school year. By the 2023-2024 school year, that dropped to around 86%. Sixth graders and 11th graders saw similar drops, according to the Louisiana Department of Health.
Even small drops in vaccine coverage can translate to more disease, as the U.S. saw with a measles outbreak this year. If the decreases continue, health experts warned that the consequences could be deadly, particularly for immunocompromised children.
“It's a certainty that if we run this experiment through enough seasons of disease transfer, that eventually we're going to have a tragedy,” said Stoecker. “And we'll have only ourselves to blame.”
'Small but very loud and organized group'
Many of the bills and resolutions were shepherded through the House and Senate with the support of Health Freedom Louisiana, a limited liability company that describes itself as a a “consumer and human rights advocacy organization.”
Jill Hines, second from left, co-director of Health Freedom Louisiana, talks with a Sgt. at Arms Office staffer who was passing out testimony request cards before the start of a meeting of the House Committee on Health and Welfare at the State Capitol, Monday, August 16, 2021.
Co-director Jill Hines is a regular presence at the State Capitol during the legislative session. She is also the director of advocacy for Stand for Health Freedom, a national nonprofit against vaccine requirements. During the 2023 election cycle, the organization endorsed 40 candidates in Louisiana. Hines declined to be interviewed.
Rep. Edmonston said COVID made people she knows question public health guidance.
“I really think people in Louisiana are doing their due diligence in researching not just vaccines, but I feel like our people are kind of waking up after COVID,” said Edmonston.
Mills said legislation he passed without opposition in 2009 to expand vaccine access wouldn’t be possible in the current climate. That’s not because residents of Louisiana are against it, but because the anti-vaccine movement – “a very small but very loud and organized group” – has gained political power. In its wake, science and medical experts are given less consideration.
“If I have a bridge falling apart, I’m going to listen to an engineer, not someone who doesn't like bridges,” said Mills.
Dr. Mark Kline, physician in chief at Children's Hospital New Orleans and infectious disease specialist, said dismantling vaccines policies threatens herd immunity, making individual vaccinations less effective.
"It just is counter to everything we know about the legitimate practice of public health," said Kline. "It jeopardizes all of our safety, and particularly the safety of people who have medical conditions that make them vulnerable to these diseases."