Trump's week in review: HHS halts funds for child sex changes; American released from Russia
5. Trump urges DOJ to investigate states that do not provide religious exemptions to vaccine mandates
In an executive order Monday, Trump outlined the Gold Standard Childhood Vaccine Recommendations.
A fact sheet compiled by the White House summarized the main provision of the recommendations as reducing the number of diseases that all children get immunized for from 18 to 11. The 11 diseases that all children are recommended to receive immunizations for are measles, mumps, rubella, diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, polio, Haemophilus influenzae type b, pneumococcal disease, human papillomavirus and varicella.
The executive order contrasted practices for administering childhood vaccines in the U.S. with those of other developed nations, noting that “most peer nations maintain high childhood vaccination rates through public trust and education” while in the U.S., “individual States set mandatory vaccination requirements that children must meet to attend school.” The president stressed that under his administration, he would prioritize the idea that “Federal programs and funding should support maximum parental choice over childhood vaccines.”
An additional provision in the executive order directs the U.S. attorney general to pursue litigation against any state laws that “conflict with States’ constitutional and Federal statutory obligations related to parental authority, religious freedom, disability accommodations, and equal protection under the law, including, to the extent applicable under Federal law, States’ obligations to provide religious and medical exemptions from childhood and provide military religious and medical exemptions from childhood and adolescent immunization requirements.”
Ryan Foley is a reporter for The Christian Post. He can be reached at: ryan.foley@christianpost.com
