Anti-Science Bills Are Being Considered In State Legislatures

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🗓️ 29 October 2025

⏱️ 36 minutes

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Summary

More than 400 bills challenging longstanding public health practices, including vaccines and milk safety, are making their way through statehouses across the country.

According to an Associated Press investigation that tracked said legislation, these bills would do everything from ban certain types of immunizations to making the sale and consumption of unpasteurized milk more accessible.

Anti-vaccine bills are by far the most common. At least 350 of the 420 bills were related to vaccines. Some 11 states have already adopted more than two dozen laws restricting vaccine access.

Who are the highly organized groups behind this wave of anti-science legislation? And how do these bills fit into the broader dismantling of the country’s public health system?

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0:00.0	Support for NPR and the following message comes from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
0:05.4	RWJF is a national philanthropy working toward a future where health is no longer a privilege but a right.
0:12.1	Learn more at RWJF.org.
0:29.6	More than 400 bills challenging long-standing public health practices have made their way through state houses across the country.
0:38.6	According to an Associated Press investigation that tracked this legislation, these bills would do everything from ban certain types of vaccines to making the sale and consumption of unpasteurized or raw milk more accessible. But anti-vaccine bills were by far the
0:45.1	most common ones. At least 350 of the 420 bills were related to vaccines. 11 states have already
0:52.4	adopted more than two dozen laws restricting vaccine access.
0:56.9	Who are the highly organized groups behind this wave of anti-science legislation? And how did these
1:02.2	bills fit into the broader dismantling of the country's public health system? We get into it after
1:07.0	the break. I'm Jen White. You're listening to the 1A podcast. Back with more in a moment.
1:15.6	This message comes from Wise, the app for using money around the globe. When you manage your
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1:26.6	millions of customers and visit wise.com.
1:29.8	T's and C's apply.
1:31.7	Support for NPR and the following message comes from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
1:36.7	RWJF is a national philanthropy working toward a future where health is no longer a privilege but a right.
1:43.5	Learn more at RWJF.org.
1:47.5	Joining us in studio to talk about it is Julie Rovner. She's Chief Washington correspondent at KFF
1:53.0	Health News. She's also the host of their health policy news podcast, What the Health.
1:58.0	WAMU is a co-producer and distribution partner for the podcast. Julie, welcome
2:02.5	back to the program. Thanks for having me, as always. Also with us is Laura Unger. She's a science and
2:07.9	medical reporter for the Associated Press. She's one of the journalists who led AP's investigation
	...

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