Florida Attorney General urges Catholic schools to honor religious vaccine exemptions

Attorney General James Uthmeier wrote to the Florida Conference of Catholic Bishops, contending that Catholic teaching on free will and parental authority requires schools to allow religious exemptions from vaccines. He highlighted that Florida law already provides for such exemptions and accused a particular diocese and the National Catholic Bioethics Center of misinterpreting Church policy, especially regarding vaccines derived from aborted-fetal tissue.

Citing the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Uthmeier noted that vaccination is not a universal moral duty and that conscience-based refusal should be respected. He urged Catholic schools in the state to align their policies with both civil law and Church doctrine. Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo echoed the criticism, calling the refusal to grant exemptions “control-based doctrine” that undermines spiritual freedom.