TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — As Florida lawmakers push to roll back vaccine requirements this session, State Capitol Reporter Forrest Saunders looks into the debate increasingly playing out beyond the Capitol, and inside the Governor’s Mansion.
Watch State Capitol Reporter Forrest Saunder's full report
First Lady Casey DeSantis on Friday hosted a roundtable alongside Surgeon General Dr. Joe Ladapo. They framed the discussion as a push for "parental empowerment" and greater transparency in food and medicine.
The event was part of the administration's "Healthy Florida First" initiative, which has recently released state testing that showed elevated levels of heavy metals in some baby formulas and arsenic in several popular candies. DeSantis said those findings highlight what she described as a broader trust issue for parents trying to make everyday decisions for their children.
"We are putting things in our children’s lunch boxes and on their dinner plates and breakfast and even ourselves, based on trust," DeSantis said.
But vaccines, and Florida’s long-standing immunization requirements, were also central to the conversation.
Several parents at the roundtable shared personal stories of being turned away by pediatricians or feeling pressured by hospitals after questioning or declining vaccines. DeSantis and Ladapo described those experiences as coercive and discriminatory, arguing families should not lose access to care over medical choices.
“No family should ever be dropped from care, and no parent should be judged or excluded because of their vaccine choices,” DeSantis said. “Unfortunately, that is what we are seeing across the state of Florida.”
Ladapo echoed that message, saying families want information, not pressure.
"People want more information," he said. "They don’t want more coercion."
The timing of the roundtable is significant. In Tallahassee, lawmakers are already advancing legislation that would make it easier for parents to opt their children out of school and daycare vaccine requirements by expanding exemptions. At the same time, the Florida Department of Health is working on a draft rule that could eliminate several vaccines currently required for school attendance.
Pediatricians and public health experts warn the changes could lead to lower vaccination rates and increase the risk of outbreaks, calling it a step backward for public health.
Dr. Rana Alissa, president of the Florida chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, said recently relying solely on parental choice without broader safeguards is risky.
"It’s a dangerous tactic to just follow parental choice and ignore the risk and danger," Alissa said.
Dr. Paul Robinson, a professor at the FSU College of Medicine, warned the issue has become increasingly politicized.
"It shouldn’t be political," Robinson said. "I think the current MAGA movement has made it political because it speaks to a group that they like, I guess. I don't know."
For months, physicians have noted that Florida already allows vaccine exemptions and have cautioned that further weakening requirements could reduce immunization rates statewide.
Still, with Republican lawmakers controlling both chambers, and with vocal backing from the First Lady, some form of change appears increasingly likely before the end of the legislative session.
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