On Sept. 3, Florida Surgeon General Dr. Joseph Ladapo announced the state’s plan to end vaccine mandates for minors, making it the first state to do so. The decision has since been met with celebration from members of the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) movement, but scrutiny from other Floridians, some Republicans, and President Donald Trump.

The move stems from the principle that parents should have control over the vaccines their children receive. “Every last one of them is wrong and drips with disdain and slavery,” said the Surgeon General in his announcement, expressing the unjust and unfair nature of the requirements. Currently, K-12 school systems require vaccinations against diseases such as measles, tetanus, polio, and more. Read the Florida Department of Health’s full list here. 

Many see the end of vaccine mandates as ironic, considering the multi-state measles outbreak that happened over the summer. Though measles was thought to be eradicated, four cases were reported in the state of Florida, and over a thousand in Texas. 

There also seems to be a religious undertone to Dr. Ladapo’s decision. “Your body is a gift from God,” he said, after emphasizing that it is not his place to tell Floridians what vaccines they should or should not have administered. “People who don’t know you are telling you what to put in your temple, the temple of your body. That is a gift from God,” he continued. 

Dr. Ladapo expressed that he feels that those who would like to vaccinate their children should be allowed to do so after making “an informed decision,” and that parents who would not like to vaccinate their children should also have the right not to after making informed decisions. 

“I think the Florida vaccine mandates already cement an idea that was already widely known, which is that children’s health and safety are not prioritized nor considered, only scapegoated when deemed ideal,” says PPCHS junior Dahleah Avril.

“Religion should not be in politics at all… The thing is that people include religion in conversations so that they can cite criticism as blasphemous,” she continues. “If you were to counterattack [Dr. Ladapo’s statements], it would kind of imply that you’re saying that bodies are not a gift from God… To cite something as blasphemous is to invite religious warfare.”

Two days later, President Trump’s response to the end of vaccine mandates decreased confidence in the Surgeon General’s move. “You have vaccines that work… and I think those vaccines should be used, otherwise some people are going to catch it, and they endanger other people,” he said at a press conference. Trump’s view is similar to many across the state–Democrats and Republicans alike–who feel that mandates protect children from disease outbreaks. 

It’s unclear whether Dr. Ladapo’s plan will proceed, considering the criticism from many Florida residents and the President. However, his decision has left a mark on the state’s politics and has further divided its residents, and poses a loaded question: does the end of vaccine mandates threaten children’s health or give parents their right to do their own research and make their own decisions on their children’s bodies?