Schoolchildren in Florida will no longer receive vaccines for easily preventable diseases such as measles, mumps, and chicken pox, after the state’s surgeon general compared the practice to “slavery.”
Speaking at a press conference on Wednesday, Florida’s Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo announced plans to repeal every state law requiring children to receive mandatory vaccinations, making Florida the first state to do so.
“Every last one of them is wrong and drips with disdain and slavery,” said Ladapo, who was found guilty of altering data in a 2022 study about COVID-19 vaccinations to make them seem more dangerous to young men.
“People have a right to make their own decisions. Who am I, as a government or anyone else, to tell you what you should put in your body? Our body is a gift from God. What you put into your body is because of your relationship with your body and your God.”
Ladapo, who was hand-picked for the role by Gov. Ron DeSantis, previously referred to the growing skepticism of vaccines as “reflections of God’s light against the darkness of tyranny and oppression.” He has also courted controversy by peddling conspiracy theories about the presence of fluoride in drinking water and calling COVID shots “the Antichrist.”
DeSantis, who endorsed the move, said his administration had the power to end some vaccination mandates unilaterally, but the rest would have to be done via “changes from the legislature.”
“There are a handful, maybe a half a dozen vaccines that are mandated. So those are going to be gone for sure,” Ladapo added. “We need to end it. It’s the right thing to do.”
Until now, every U.S. state has required schoolchildren to receive a series of mandatory vaccinations, which multiple studies have shown to have a “remarkable” effect on reducing the spread of preventable diseases. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), these vaccinations save more than four million lives every year.
The move comes in conjunction with Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s “Make America Healthy Again” movement, which last month slashed over $500 million of funding for mRNA vaccinations, which help prevent diseases such as bird flu and COVID.
Earlier this year, a drop in vaccination levels amongst kindergarteners in West Texas resulted in an outbreak of the measles, which infected 760 people and killed two young children. The disease had been all but eliminated from the U.S. before that due to high vaccination rates amongst schoolchildren.
