Republicans Are Trying to Repeal Vaccine Mandates for Every Disease
If the GOP has its way, diseases like measles and tuberculosis could make a big comeback.
Montana’s Republican governor, Greg Gianforte, who in May signed into law a bill effectively turning vaccination status into a protected class. (William Campbell / Getty Images)
One of the puzzling things about opponents of COVID-19 vaccine mandates, in the minds of some exasperated liberals and leftists, is their acceptance of vaccine mandates for every other disease. If you feel that coercing people into getting vaccinated is an unacceptable government overreach, those liberals and leftists ask, wouldn’t you be equally upset at the vaccine mandates for polio, measles, and many others that have been in place in every state in the country since last century?
Republican officials have realized this contradiction and have been working to iron it out — not by rethinking their vehement opposition to the COVID mandates and trying to persuade their followers, mind you. Instead, GOP legislators around the country have tried to resolve this inconsistency by broadening their anti-mandate stance and trying to weaken government and private sector immunization requirements for a host of other infectious diseases beyond COVID.
Three Victories for Disease
As of the time of writing, a survey of bills listed by the National Conference of State Legislatures shows there are at least nine bills pending in seven states that weaken or outright bar vaccine mandates for diseases beyond coronavirus, while three such bills have already been signed into law. Two of those are in Montana, long a hotbed of vaccine hesitancy — ironically, given that the state produced one of the world’s most prolific and important vaccine creators.
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