Science Friday

States Expected To See More ‘Anti-Science’ Bills This Year

January 20, 2026

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  • Over 420 "anti-science" bills, primarily targeting vaccines, milk safety, and fluoride, were introduced in statehouses last year, with about 30 enacted across 12 states. 
  • A significant portion of the enacted anti-science legislation was supported by national groups connected to Robert F. Kennedy Jr., indicating an organized, multi-state strategy to change public health policies. 
  • A new Louisiana law (CAMRA) severely restricts the use of community-collected environmental data for regulatory enforcement by requiring expensive, EPA-certified monitoring equipment, creating a tension between data rigor and local accountability. 

Segments

Defining Anti-Science Bills
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(00:00:07)
  • Key Takeaway: Anti-science bills target scientifically proven public health measures concerning vaccines, milk safety, and fluoride.
  • Summary: Legislation introduced in statehouses seeks to remove protections around established public health issues. The investigation focused on three areas: vaccines, milk safety, and fluoride, all of which go against scientifically proven health measures. For instance, experts credit global vaccine efforts with saving over 150 million lives since the mid-70s.
Scope of Vaccine Legislation
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(00:01:34)
  • Key Takeaway: The vast majority of anti-science bills introduced were anti-vaccine, including measures to ease exemptions or ban specific vaccine types like mRNA.
  • Summary: At the time the story ran in the fall, about 30 of the 420 bills had been enacted or adopted across 12 states, including Texas and Florida. Some extreme bills even labeled mRNA vaccines as weapons of mass destruction. At least 350 of the bills were specifically focused on vaccine regulation.
Identifying Bill Supporters
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(00:02:47)
  • Key Takeaway: Most enacted anti-science bills were supported by at least one of four national groups linked to Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
  • Summary: The groups pushing these bills include Maha Action, Stand for Health Freedom, the National Vaccine Information Center, and the Weston A. Price Foundation. This effort is described as well-organized, with a clear strategy aiming for eventual national policy changes. States like Florida and Texas stood out for introducing a high volume of these bills.
Upcoming Legislative Focus
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(00:04:30)
  • Key Takeaway: New legislative sessions are already seeing bills targeting water fluoridation and establishing state-level vaccine adverse event reporting systems.
  • Summary: Themes from the previous year are continuing, with bills introduced in Kentucky to make water fluoridation optional and in Indiana to create a state version of the federal vaccine adverse event reporting system. Changes are also occurring federally, such as a reduction in universally recommended childhood vaccines from 18 to 11 over the past year.
Human Cost of Sentiment
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(00:05:36)
  • Key Takeaway: Rising anti-science sentiment has already resulted in tragic outcomes, including the death of a child from a vaccine-preventable disease due to lack of community herd immunity.
  • Summary: One family interviewed lost their eight-year-old son because, despite being vaccinated, the community lacked the necessary herd immunity to prevent transmission. Concerned citizens can monitor legislation by checking their respective state legislative websites for introduced bills.
Louisiana Pollution Monitoring Case
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(00:08:11)
  • Key Takeaway: The 2024 Louisiana Community Air Monitoring Reliability Act (CAMRA) prevents citizens from using non-EPA-certified monitoring data to enforce pollution regulations against industry.
  • Summary: Community groups in Louisiana monitor air and water quality near heavy industry, like LNG facilities, due to routine permit violations by polluters. The CAMRA law mandates the use of gold-standard monitors, which cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, effectively barring grassroots groups from using their own reliable data for enforcement. This trend of restricting community monitoring data use is also appearing in other states like Kentucky.