More than a dozen states filed a federal lawsuit Tuesday challenging the Trump administration’s decision to scale back childhood vaccination guidelines, arguing the policy changes illegally endanger public health.
The legal challenge targets the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s announcement last month ending universal vaccination recommendations for children against influenza, rotavirus, hepatitis A and B, certain meningitis strains, and RSV. The revised guidelines now suggest these immunizations only for high-risk groups or through individual doctor-patient consultations in what officials term “shared decision-making.” Medical professionals have widely criticized this approach.
States participating in the lawsuit, which include Arizona and California, contend the modified vaccine guidance disregards established medical science and will force state governments to spend additional resources preventing disease outbreaks.
“The health and safety of children across the country is not a political issue,” said Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes, a Democrat, at a news conference. “It is not a culture war talking point.”
Neither the CDC nor the Department of Health and Human Services provided immediate responses to requests for comment regarding the legal action.
This lawsuit represents an intensification of ongoing conflicts between Democratic state leadership and Republican President Donald Trump’s administration concerning federal public health policy modifications under Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. The current administration has terminated thousands of federal public health agency employees, reduced scientific research funding, and modified government guidance regarding fluoride and other health matters.
Kennedy previously removed all members of a vaccine advisory committee last year, replacing them with his own appointees, which Tuesday’s legal complaint claims violated federal law.
The legal action follows the formation of an alliance by Democratic governors from California, Washington, and Oregon several months ago to develop independent vaccine recommendations. These governors accused the Trump administration of endangering public health by introducing politics into CDC operations.
While individual states maintain authority over school vaccination requirements rather than the federal government, CDC recommendations typically shape state-level regulations.
